THE IMMUNOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPHIN IN URINE

1964 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Hobson ◽  
Leif Wide

ABSTRACT When assayed against the International Standard for HCG the biological activity, as measured by the rat seminal vesicle method, of urines from women collected during the second half of pregnancy is lower than the immunological activity (haemagglutination inhibition reaction). Almost 100 % of the immunological and biological HCG activities were recovered from the acetone precipitates of such urines. A kaolin extract of these urines produced a partial separation of the immunological activity. About half of the immunological activity and almost all of the biological activity was recovered in the concentrate. In the supernatant, left after kaolin extraction, an immunologically active biologically inactive »HCG« was found. A urine from a woman with a hydatidiform mole was assayed by both methods. The biological and immunological activities of this urine were almost unity and the ratio of the 2 activities remained unaltered in the acetone precipitate and the kaolin concentrate made from an aliquot of this urine. The kaolin supernatant contained equal and measurable amounts of the biological and immunological activities. In conclusion the method used to concentrate the urine of pregnant women will affect the ratio between the biological activity and the immunological HCG activity.

1967 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Wide ◽  
Bruce Hobson

ABSTRACT When human chorionic gonadotrophin from the urine of pregnant women is assayed both biologically and immunologically, the ratio (B/I) between the two activities is less than unity, and changes as pregnancy progresses. This suggests that the two methods do not wholly measure the same activity. Urines from women with a hydatidiform mole have a B/I ratio higher than urines from women with normal pregnancies, and this difference can be used to distinguish between a pregnancy and a hydatidiform mole. The B/I ratio of the serum from pregnant women is significantly higher than that of the urine. The B/I ratio of serum from women with a hydatidiform mole, and from those with a normal pregnancy, are of the same magnitude. Factors which might influence the immunological and biological HCG activity in the urine and serum are discussed.


1965 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudi Borth ◽  
Michel Ferin ◽  
Annette Menzi

ABSTRACT In 39 samples of pregnancy urine, the concentration of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) was estimated biologically by the ovarian hyperaemia reaction in rats, and serologically by the passive haemagglutinationinhibition technique. The results of the bioassays varied from 3 to 150 IU/ml, those of the immunoassays from 5 to 640 IU-eq./ml, and the correlation between the two (calculated for their logarithms) accounted for only 17 per cent of the total variation (r2 = 0.169, P ≈0.01). If the biological activity were estimated from a serological result and the appropriate regression line, the fiducial interval for P = 0.05 would extend from 17 to 610 per cent of the estimate. In a factorial experiment using three anti-HCG sera, three standard and three sensitizing preparations of HCG, the sensitivity of the serological system (expressed as the endpoint concentration in IU of HCG) varied considerably between the 27 combinations of the 3 factors, but there was no interaction between the latter. From these data and those of other authors, it is concluded that immunoassays based on haemagglutination inhibition cannot replace bioassays in the estimation of HCG, as distinct from its hypothetical metabolites or other related antigens, unless specificity has been demonstrated. The well-documented reliability of serological pregnancy tests is, of course, not in dispute. Attention is drawn to the fact that »statistically significant« correlation does not guarantee analytically acceptable agreement between two methods of assay.


1971 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Petrusz ◽  
C. Robyn ◽  
E. Diczfalusy

ABSTRACT Forty-two antisera were prepared in rabbits against human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), human hypophysial gonadotrophin (HHG), human urinary luteinizing hormone (LH) and human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) preparations. The gonadotrophic profiles of the antigens were previously characterized by bioassay, immunoassay and bioimmunoassay methods. The 25 most potent antisera were tested in statistically valid bioassays for their HCG and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) neutralizing activities as well as for their neutralizing potencies against the FSH-like activity present in HCG preparations. The anti-HCG/anti-FSH ratios of the anti-HCG sera tested varied between 6.2 and > 254, while those of the anti-HHG, anti-LH and anti-HMG sera were close to 2. It was found that the total dose of immunological activity (anti-HCG neutralizing and anti-FSH neutralizing potency) rather than that of the biological activity administered to the rabbits was decisive for obtaining antisera with high anti-HCG and anti-FSH titers. Immunization with a highly purified HCG preparation (> 17 000 IU/mg) resulted in antisera exhibiting lower anti-HCG/anti-FSH ratios than did immunization with partially purified preparations. A highly purified urinary LH preparation which did not contain any detectable FSH activity gave rise to antisera exhibiting anti-HCG/anti-FSH ratios of approximately 2.0. These highly purified HCG and LH preparations were shown previously to possess high anti-FSH neutralizing potencies (Petrusz et al. 1971b). Booster injections did not change significantly the quality or the titer of the antigonadotrophic sera studied. The HCG neutralizing potency of anti-HCG sera was approximately 3 times higher when assayed against a highly purified HCG preparation (> 17 000 IU/mg) as compared to potency estimates obtained against the laboratory standard of HCG (about 2000 IU/mg). It is suggested that consideration should be given to the establishment of standard preparations of antigonadotrophic sera. It is concluded that bioimmunoassays are more suitably than conventional bioassay methods for the assessment of the antigenic purity of human gonadotrophin preparations.


1967 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. BARR ◽  
J. G. COLLEE

SUMMARY Incubation of a partially purified preparation of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) with neuraminidase resulted in release of free sialic acid from the substrate. The biological activity of the HCG was considerably reduced after incubation with the enzyme, but a parallel reduction in immunological activity was not observed.


1962 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Wide ◽  
Carl Gemzell

ABSTRACT An immunological method to assay human pituitary luteinizing hormone (HPLH) in urine is described. It is based on the fact that HPLH crossreacts with human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) in an haemagglutination inhibition reaction between HCG-coated blood cells and rabbit HCG-antisera. During the menstrual cycle the excretion of HPLH reached a peak of 200–400 U per liter at the time of ovulation. In the urine of post-menopausal women the concentration of HPLH was between 100 and 400 U per liter. In the urine of adult men the concentration of HPLH was between 50 and 160 U per liter.


1971 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 434-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Matthies ◽  
E. Diczfalusy

ABSTRACT Gel filtration of pregnancy urine on Sephadex G-100 separates two molecular species related to human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). One is a slightly retarded fraction which possesses biological activity but little or no immunological activity. The other is a highly retarded fraction which possesses immunological activity but no detectable biological activity. The highly retarded material could not be detected in pregnancy serum nor in extracts of first trimester placentas. A nonpregnant woman injected intravenously with purified HCG which displayed only slight retardation on the column produced urine which contained the highly retarded material. Experiments are described, the results of which suggest that the highly retarded material is a separate component of urine, probably generated by the kidney.


1976 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Salmon ◽  
K. L. Peh ◽  
S. S. Ratnam

ABSTRACT Six patients who had hydatidiform mole and who subsequently developed clinical choriocarcinomas were studied. Serial plasma samples were assayed for HCG content by (i) haemagglutination-inhibition test (HI test), (ii) a non-specific radioimmunoassay and (iii) a specific radioimmunoassay developed against the β-sub unit of HCG. When levels of HCG were high all three assays gave results which parallelled each other. However, the radioimmunoassays were able to detect the presence of HCG several weeks after the HI test became negative. Luteinizing hormone cross-reacted in the non-specific radioimmunoassay of HCG and may lead to false positive results. The present study indicated that it is important to employ the radioimmunoassay against the β-sub unit of HCG to permit a specific assessment of HCG activity and thereby provide a reliable monitoring of patients following hydatidiform mole or with choriocarcinoma.


1964 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mats G. Carlsson

ABSTRACT A commercial preparation of HCG has been shown to contain 5 nonspecific antigenic substances which can give rise to antibodies in rabbits. A method for blocking the non-specific antibodies with male urine extract is described. The purified antiserum has been used for the assay of the immunological HCG-activity in 920 specimens of human urine with the haemagglutination inhibition technique. One doubtful negative reaction was found in 570 cases of pregnant women. No »false postive« reaction was found in 133 urines from healthy non pregnant women and 5 »false postive« reactions in urines from 115 women with gynaecological diseases. 100 urines from males were negative. The level of immunological activity in urine obtained with this method was lower throughout pregnancy when compared to Wide's results (1962). In cases of threatened or complete abortion and toxaemia of pregnancy, immunological activity of the urine seemed to correspond to the viability of the foetus.


1964 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bolté ◽  
S. Mancuso ◽  
G. Eriksson ◽  
N. Wiqvist ◽  
E. Diczfalusy

ABSTRACT In 15 cases of therapeutic abortion by laparotomy the placenta was disconnected from the foetus and perfused in situ with tracer amounts of radioactive dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHAS), androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (A), testosterone (T) and 17β-oestradiol (OE2). Analysis of the placentas, perfusates and urine samples revealed an extensive aromatisation of DHA, A and T; more than 70% of the radioactive material recovered was phenolic, and at least 80 % of this phenolic material was identified as oestrone (OE1), 17β-oestradiol (OE2) and oestriol (OE3), the latter being detected only in the urine. Comparative studies indicated that A and T were aromatised somewhat better than DHA and that all three unconjugated steroids were aromatised to a much greater extent than DHAS. Radioactive OE1 and OE2 were isolated and identified in the placentas and perfusates, but no OE3, epimeric oestriols, or ring D ketols could be detected in these sources, not even when human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) was added to the blood prior to perfusion. Lack of placental 16-hydroxylation was also apparent when OE2 was perfused. Regardless of the precursor perfused, there was three times more OE2 than OE1 in the placenta and three times more OE1 than OE2 in the perfusate. This was also the case following perfusion with OE2. The results are interpreted as suggesting the existence in the pregnant human of a placental »barrier« limiting the passage of circulating androgen. The barrier consists of a) limited ability to transfer directly DHAS and b) an enzymic mechanism resulting in the rapid and extensive aromatisation of the important androgens DHA, A and T.


Author(s):  
Norzila Ismail ◽  
Aida Maziha Zainudin ◽  
Gan Siew Hua

Abstract Objectives Level of βhCG and the presence of any uterine mass of hydatidiform mole need a careful review or monitoring in order to prevent metastasis, provide an early treatment and avoid unnecessary chemotherapy. Case presentation A 36-year old fifth gravida patient who had a missed abortion was diagnosed as having a molar pregnancy with beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (βhCG) level of 509,921 IU/L. Her lung field was clear and she underwent suction and curettage (S & C) procedure. However, after six weeks, AA presented to the emergency department with a massive bleeding, although her βhCG level had decreased to 65,770 IU/L. A trans-abdominal ultrasound indicated the presence of an intra-uterine mass (3.0 × 4.4 cm). Nevertheless, her βhCG continued to show a declining trend (8,426 IU/L). AA was advised to undergo a chemotherapy but she refused, citing preference for alternative medicine like herbs instead. She opted for an “at own risk” (AOR) discharge with scheduled follow up. Subsequently, her condition improved with her βhCG showing a downward trend. Surprisingly, at six months post S & C, her βhCG ameliorated to 0 IU/L with no mass detected by ultrasound. Conclusions Brucea javanica fruits, Pereskia bleo and Annona muricata leaves can potentially be useful alternatives to chemotherapy and need further studies.


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