Pharmatest offers an in vitro assay for screening potentially androgenic or anti-androgenic compounds (either drug candidates or endocrine disruptors). The assay is performed with the PSA expressing androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cell line LNCaP commonly used in oncology research. Compounds that act as androgens or anti-androgens can be identified by measuring their effects on cell proliferation.
Cell proliferation is assessed by a WST-1 based proliferation assay and compared with the proliferation of groups receiving appropriate control substances. Secreted PSA levels in the conditioned medium can also be measured.