Cortisol (Serum/Urine) ELISA Kit

Cortisol, also known as hydrocortisone, is a naturally occurring corticosteroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland. Cortisol secretion is regulated by the pituitary hormone called adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and typically shows a diurnal cycle with the highest levels in the early morning and lowest levels at night. Cortisol is released in response to stress and low blood-glucose concentration and it plays a key role in homeostatic maintenance. Cortisol can increase blood pressure and blood sugar levels, suppress the immune system, aid in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates, and reduce bone and collagen formation. Abnormal cortisol production can cause a number of different problems. Excess cortisol can result in depressive disorder, certain forms of hypertension, stress and Cushing's disease, whereas insufficient cortisol can lead to nausea, diarrhea, joint pain, Addison's disease and Nelson's syndrome. In animals, cortisol is known as a stress hormone in response to physical and emotional stresses. Cortisol can be measured in blood, saliva and urine and its concentration generally ranges from 30-250 ng/ml in plasma and from 10-170 μg/day in urine. The concentration of cortisol in saliva and serum is also found to be correlated. BioVision’s Cortisol (Serum/Urine) ELISA kit is a competitive enzyme immunoassay kit and its readout signal is inversely proportional to the cortisol concentration. The kit is simple, easy and fast to determine the cortisol concentration in different biological samples such as serum and urine. It can detect cortisol range between 5.6 and 450 ng/ml within 90 minutes (LOD 2 ng/ml).