title: [Secretion of hCG by mononuclear cells--a specific and essential reaction in pregnancy?].
abstract: Mononuclear cells in peripheral blood secrete immunoreactive hCG (ir-hCG) when they are stimulated in in-vitro culture with the proteinkinase C - activator phorbol-myristat-acetate (TPA). We examined the ir-hCG secretion in 61 fertile and 191 pregnant women and 38 men. Mononuclear cells of pregnant women secrete after TPA stimulation significantly more ir-hCG than mononuclear cells on non-pregnant but fertile women. This effect can be detected as early as 23rd days of a menstrual cycle which is accompanied by conception and persisted over the entire duration of a pregnancy. Maximal effects were observed in the 7th to 19th and 30th to 34th weeks of pregnancy. An artefact caused by adhesive serum-hCG could be excluded. The elevated potential of the mononuclear cells to be stimulated remained intact for about 14 days after termination of a normal pregnancy in the first trimester. An ir-hCG secretion similar to that seen in nonpregnant women was found in patients with early abortion. The possible physiological importance of the in-vivo secretion of beta-HCG during pregnancy is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe der Universität Leipzig.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Giese
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Metzner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Henke
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pretzsch
mesh_terms: D000027:Abortion, Incomplete / Q000097:blood; D000028:Abortion, Induced; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin
vernacular_title: Sekretion von hCG durch mononukleäre Zellen--eine spezifische und essentielle Reaktion während der Schwangerschaft?