| Abstract: | When injected intramuscularly in a dose of 150 mg, Depo Provera, a microcrystalline suspension of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), will provide a contraceptive effect for at least 3 months. This paper describes a sensitive radioimmunoassay for MPA which has been used in the author's laboratory for the past 2 years. MPA was converted to MPA-3-CMO and the oxime was conjugated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) by the mixed anahydride method. 4 rabbits were immunized with the antiserum. A high titre of MPA antibodies was detected 6 months after immunization. Serum from the rabbit with the highest titre of antibodies to MPA was subjected to radioimmunoassay. 7 days after the intramuscular injection of 150 mg Depo-Provera, serum levels of MPA were found in the range of 1750 to 9000 pg/ml. By 75 days, the levels had decreased to 680-2600 pg/ml. The method was found to have adequate accuracy, precision and sensitivity. |
