title: First-trimester hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin and development of hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine whether urine levels of hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin (HhCG) in the first trimester are predictive of subsequent development of hypertension during pregnancy
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective cohort study consisted of women seeking care before 12 weeks gestation. A clean catch urine was obtained at the first prenatal visit and tested for HhCG and creatinine levels. The median HhCG levels and multiples of the median (MoM) by gestational age were compared between the groups that either developed hypertension or did not.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Urine HhCG were determined for 204 women between 4 weeks 4 days to 11 weeks 6 days. The median HhCG of those who developed gestational hypertension (n = 7) or preeclampsia (n = 15) did not differ from the group that did not (median: 284 ng/mg creatinine vs 365 ng/mg; p = 0.55). If the MoM of HhCG for the no hypertension group was 1.00, the MoM of HhCG for the hypertension group was 0.93 (p = 0.93). A possible association was observed after 10 weeks between low HhCG levels and the development of late-onset hypertension (≥34 weeks).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prenatal screening for subsequent hypertension is unreliable with a single measurement of maternal urine HhCG at 10 weeks or less.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Clinical and Translational Sciences Center, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Murray-Krezan
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Rayburn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006031:Glycosylation; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016482:Urinalysis / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D003404:Creatinine