[Present status and future of enzyme immunoassay--hormone]

Recently various non-radioisotopic immunoassays have been developed instead of radioisotopic assay and widely used in the laboratory. Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) is most popular in use including chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA). At present few hormones (thyroid related and gonadotropic hormones) are measured by EIA with semi or full automatic analysers and satisfactory specificity and sensitivity were already obtained. However, most hormones are still measured by RIA or IRMA. EIA for these hormones should be developed. Standardization of reference interval and calibrators would also be needed for the compatibility between different assays.