The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 18, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 01, 2000
Steven Birken, Dumont, NJ (US);
Yacov Maydelman, Fort Lee, NJ (US);
Galina I. Kovalevskaya, New York, NY (US);
John F. O'Connor, New Rochelle, NY (US);
The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a method for predicting the likely timing of the onset of menopause for a perimenopausal female subject by determining the amount of hLH&bgr;cf in a sample from the subject comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a sample from the subject with an antibody which specifically binds to hLH&bgr;cf without substantially cross-reacting with hLH, hLH&bgr; or hLH&bgr;cf, under conditions permitting formation of a complex between the antibody and hLH&bgr;cf; (b) measuring the amount of complex formed, so as to thereby determine the amount of hLH&bgr;cf in the sample; and (c) comprising the amount of hLH&bgr;cf in the subject's sample determined in step (b) with either (i) the amount determined for known postmenopausal female subject or (ii) the amount determined for a sample from a known premenopausal female subject, wherein an amount of hLH&bgr;cf in the sample similar to the amount of hLH&bgr;cf in the known postmenopausal sample indicates temporal proximity to the onset of menopause, and an amount of hLH&bgr;cf in the sample similar to the amount of hLH&bgr;cf in the known premenopausal sample indicates temporal distance from the onset of menopause for the subject. AS described herein amount is both concentration and pattern of measurement of concentrations in one or more consecutive urine specimens.