Human chorionic gonadotropin, prolactin, estriol, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate concentrations in cord blood of premature and term newborn infants: relationship to the sex of the neonate.
Although the composition of human chorionic gonadotropin, prolactin, estriol, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in the umbilical cord blood has been studied, less information is available on the effect of fetal sex on the cord blood concentrations. We assayed these hormones in cord blood from 405 newborn infants delivered between 23 and 43 weeks of gestation. In pooled data for both sexes, human chorionic gonadotropin showed a declining trend from the beginning to the end of the sampling interval. By contrast, in 398 newborn infants of known sex, prolactin, estriol, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels increased during the same period. Sex differences were observed for human chorionic gonadotropin only; female newborn infants had higher cord blood concentrations throughout the sampling period, with the differences becoming statistically significant between 29 and 36 weeks.
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D004964:Estriol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000097:blood*; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D011388:Prolactin; D004964:Estriol