Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A: circulating levels during normal pregnancy.
The development of specific and sensitive electroimmunoassays for a recently identified high molecular weight alpha-2 mobile pregnancy-specific protein (pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, PAPP-A or SP4) is described. These assays have permitted the detection of circulating levels of PAPP-A (10 microgram/L) as early as the fifth week of pregnancy. In all 18 subjects studied, the levels of PAPP-A rose from first detection in the first trimester until delivery at term. The development of these assays now permit the evaluation of PAPP-A measurement as a diagnostic test of early pregnancy and as an index of fetal well-being throughout gestation.
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007122:Immunoelectrophoresis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D011258:Pregnancy Tests; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A / Q000032:analysis*
D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A