Comparisons between commercial salivary testosterone enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits

Measuring testosterone concentrations is of interest both in clinical situations and for research, the latter expanding rapidly during recent years. An increased demand for convenient methods has prompted a number of companies to develop enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits to measure testosterone concentrations in saliva. However, the inter-comparability of kits from different manufacturers have yet to be determined.The aim of this study was to compare commercially available ELISA kits from four different manufacturers (Salimetrics, IBL, DRG and Demeditec).Saliva was collected from 50 participants (25 men and 25 women). Each sample was analysed by the four ELISA kits.The correlations between the ELISA kits from Demeditec, DRG and Salimetrics were moderate to high with r-values .77; however, proportional errors between the methods calls for caution. The ELISA kit from IBL malfunctioned and no results from this kit was obtained.Results from studies using the ELISA kits from Demeditec, DRG and Salimetrics are generally comparable; however, translation using the formulae presented in the current study could increase the accuracy of these comparisons.