Biological Activities
The chorionic gonadotropic hormone is synthesised by the syncytiotrophoblast of the placenta all along the pregnancy and is released in the blood flow as soon as the 9th day following ovulation. The hCG has biologic characteristics similar to the LH. During pregnancy, this placental hormone
stimulates the remaining corpus luteum that secretes oestrogen and progesterone for the first three months of the pregnancy.
Clinical applications:
- Diagnostic and monitoring test in pregnancy :hCG and its free subunits α and β appear in the serum and urine of pregnant women about 9 days following ovulation. The Free βhCG level then increases rapidly to reach a peak between the 8th and the 12th week.
- Tumour marker test in trophoblastic tumours: Hydatiform moles and choriocarcinomas may secrete large amounts of native hCG and its two free subunits α and β into the peripheral blood circulation
- Tumour marker test in non-trophoblastic cancers 10 to 15 % of the breast, lung, and digestive tract cancers release hCG and/or either of its two constitutive subunits α and β.
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