title: Serum concentration of endogenous G-CSF in women during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy.
abstract: Although granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is commonly used in the field of supportive therapy for cancer treatment, the serum concentration of endogenous G-CSF in healthy women is still obscure due to the low sensitivity (30 pg mL-1) of the usual enzyme immunoassay. With the development of a highly sensitive (1.0 pg mL-1) chemiluminescent immunoassay by Kiriyama et al., we have clarified the changes of serum G-CSF levels in healthy women during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. The G-CSF concentration showed a peak value of 27.3 +/- 2.5 pg mL-1 (mean +/- SEM) at the ovulatory phase during the menstrual cycle, which is significantly higher than in all other phases (P < 0.0001, unpaired t-test). A significantly higher value compared to the menstrual cycle, except during the ovulatory phase, was also revealed throughout pregnancy (P < 0.0001, unpaired t-test). These results suggest that G-CSF plays an important role in ovulation and the maintenance of pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Makinoda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mikuni
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okuyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sagawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000097:blood*; D010060:Ovulation / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor