title: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and hCG in early pregnancy.
abstract: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) is a recently described glycoprotein of unknown biological function. The development of a radioimmunoassay enabled us to measure plasma levels of PAPP-A and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in 12 non-pregnant volunteers and in 159 women in early pregnancy attending the outpatient clinic for legal abortion. PAPP-A but not hCG was measurable in all non-pregnant women. In pregnant patients (with 36 to 86 days of amenorrhea) hCG reached a peak value (163.1-197.6 ng/ml) between the 9th and the 13th week whereas PAPP-A steadily increased throughout this period of pregnancy. Between the 6th and the 13th week after the last menstrual period, levels of PAPP-A increased proportionally more than hCG. This work provides the first evidence of a PAPP-A production in non-pregnant subjects and the very early marked increase of PAPP-A secretion during pregnancy.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D011266:Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A