Hamasaki T, Masuzaki H, Miyamura T, Yoshimura S, Hamaguchi N, Ishimaru T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan.
Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2000 Oct;71(1):7-11. doi: 10.1016/s0020-7292(00)00289-7.
To evaluate maternal serum immunoreactive inhibin (ir-inhibin) concentrations in women with pre-eclampsia, and assess the correlation between serum ir-inhibin and HCG.
The subjects comprised 28 pregnant women with suspected intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) during the third trimester. Serum concentrations of ir-inhibin and HCG were measured in 13 women with pre-eclampsia and 15 pregnant women as control subjects. Serum ir-inhibin was determined by a double antibody radioimmunoassay, and HCG by a solid-phase immunoradiometric assay.
There were no significant differences in maternal characteristics between the pre-eclamptic group and control group. The pre-eclamptic group had significantly higher concentrations of serum ir-inhibin and HCG compared with the control group. The serum concentrations of ir-inhibin correlated positively with those of HCG.
The pre-eclamptic patients displayed high serum levels of ir-inhibin and HCG, and this might reflect hyperplasia of trophoblastic cells.
