The experiments presented herein were designed to determine the fate of the human choriogonadotropin (hCG) receptor during endocytosis of the receptor-bound hCG. Using several biochemical approaches, it is shown that the receptor is internalized together with the hormone into endocytic vesicles and transferred to lysosomes without ligand dissociation. Once delivered to the lysosomes, the hCG-re...

OBJECTIVE To establish an algorithm for first-trimester combined screening for trisomy 21 with biochemical testing from 7 to 14 weeks' gestation and ultrasound testing at 11-13 weeks. METHODS This was a multicenter study of 886 pregnancies with trisomy 21 and 222 475 unaffected pregnancies with measurements of free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein...

A 38-year-old man with a metastatic gonadotropin-secreting tumor of unknown primary origin presented with both clinical and biochemical findings of hyperthyroidism in association with markedly increased concentrations of human choriogonadotropin (hCG) in plasma. After chemotherapy, the concentrations of both hCG and free thyroxin decreased and the patient became euthyroid. We discuss the rare o...

(urinary creatinine concentration). Because most of the serum results referred to were below or close to the detection limits of the kits, the urine results would be expected to he negative with the qualitative tests. The NovoClone HCG kit measures intact HCG as well as free 13-chains. The Delfia kit from Pharmacia measures the intact HCG molecule only. This difference might explain the only re...

Background: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (free β-hCG) as valuable biochemical biomarkers are used to screen down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, and Patau syndrome in the first trimester of pregnancy. Closed immunoassay analyzers are regarded as sophisticated platforms to measure biochemical biomarkers. This study compared the performance of...

The aim of this study was to analyze clinical treatment and outcome of injection MTX for Cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP). We use retrospective study to compare the time in CSP of blood chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) and progesterone drooped to the normal, blood flow resistance and hospitalization days. 34 patients diagnosed with CSP were reviewed in our department from 2000 to 2013, including cli...

BACKGROUND Testicular regulation of inhibin B may be influenced by the germ cell complement. METHODS We examined the effects of gonadotrophin stimulation on serum inhibin B and pro-alphaC in 25 normal men at (i) control (stimulation test 1), (ii) after spermatogenic suppression induced by testosterone plus progestin treatment (stimulation test 2), and (iii) during spermatogenic recovery induc...

Previous kinetic studies have characterized the intracellular folding pathway of the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-beta subunit in which each of the folding intermediates can be biochemically identified based on the formation of disulfide (S-S) bonds: p beta 1-early--> p beta 1-late--> p beta 2-free--> p beta 2-combined--> native hCG-alpha beta. Based on these data, we postulated that hCG-...

OBJECTIVES To examine the clinical utility of the first-trimester markers of aneuploidy in their ability to predict future fetal loss. METHODS We examined 54,722 singleton pregnancies with no chromosomal abnormality and with complete outcome data that had undergone screening for trisomy 21 by a combination of fetal nuchal translucency (NT) thickness, maternal serum free beta-human chorionic g...