Evaluation of Nicked Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Content in Clinical Specimens by a Specific Immunometric Assay

Autor: John O'Connor, Galina Kovalevskaya, Steven Birken, John Schlatterer, Tatsu Kakuma
Rok vydání: 1999
Předmět:
Zdroj: Clinical Chemistry. 45:68-77
ISSN: 1530-8561
0009-9147
DOI: 10.1093/clinchem/45.1.68
Popis: We report the development and characterization of an IRMA for the direct measurement of nicked human chorionic gonadotropin (hCGn) in blood and urine. hCGn derived from a reference preparation of hCG used as an immunogen elicits monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with enhanced recognition of human luteinizing hormone epitopes. The most specific assay for pregnancy hCGn is an IRMA composed of one mAb to choriocarcinoma-derived hCGn (C5) and a second mAb developed from immunization with normal-pregnancy hCGn. This assay was used to evaluate hCGn profiles in normal, in vitro fertilization, Down syndrome, and ectopic pregnancies. In all pregnancies, hCGn was usually present in much lower concentrations than the non-nicked hCG isoform. Our results suggest that some form of physical separation from the overwhelming quantities of non-nicked hCG present in clinical specimens will be required before accurate immunochemical estimations of hCGn can be made.
Databáze: OpenAIRE