Molecular Human Reproduction, Vol. 5, No. 10, 895-897,
October 1999
© 1999 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
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What factors regulate HCG production in Down's syndrome pregnancies?
Regulation of HCG during normal gestation and in pregnancies affected by Down's syndrome
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), a placentally-derived hormone, is required for successful maintenance of human pregnancy. Classically, rescue of the corpus luteum until the luteal–placental shift in progesterone synthesis occurs, is regarded as its major role (Hussa, 1980
). Maternal serum concentrations of HCG rapidly increase during the first trimester, peak at weeks 9–10, and fall to a low plateau after the 20th week of pregnancy (Braunstein et al., 1976). During the second trimester, elevated serum concentrations of HCG are known to be associated with different complications of euploid pregnancies as well as with chromosomal abnormalities of the fetus, e.g. Down's syndrome (Bogart et al., 1989; Gonen et al., 1992; Benn et al., 1996). Therefore, the hormone has become one of the biochemical
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