Radioimmunological Determination of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, Human Placental Lactogen, Growth Hormone and Thyrotropin in the Serum of Mother and Child during the Early Puerperium[*]

Abstract

The concentration of HCG, HPL, GH and TSH was determined radioimmunologically in maternal and infantile serum immediately after delivery and in increasing intervals until the 3rd od 4th day of puerperium in five mothers and their newborn children.

Immediately after the delivery the discrimination factors (conc. in maternal: conc. in umbilical vein) are: 340 ± 136 (HCG), 334 ± 181 (HPL), 0.11 ± 0.08 (GH) and 0.28 ± 0.17 (TSH).

The post-partum HCG elimination curves of mother and child resemble one another and consist at least of two components. Three half-life times might be read: 5-7 hours for the first 10 hours, 13 hours for the rest of the first day and 22 hours for the following days.

The maternal HPL half-life times start with 18-26 min, increase considerably during the next hours and change abruptly after 6-10 hours to a constant half-life time of 66 hours. HPL is detectible in the maternal serum still at the 4th day post partum. 6-10 hours after delivery the children's serum levels of HPL are below the sensitivity limit of the assay, but principally the elimination curves resemble the mothers'. The half-live times for the first hour vary from 28 to 38 min.

GH shows a rapid initial decrease in infantile as well as in maternal serum. It increases again after 2-4 hours and for the next days it oscillates between the initial extremes.

The children's serum levels of TSH, although elevated considerably after birth, rise to about the fourfold starting concentrations within the first hour of life and redescend slowly thereafter. In the mother they vary widely at the beginning, reach their deepest point between 4 and 12 hours and increase steadily afterwards.

Abbreviations:
HCG = Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
HPL = Human Placental Lactogen
GH = Growth Hormone
TSH = Thyroid Stimulating Hormone

Key words

Proteohormones - Puerperium - HCG - HPL - GH and TSH in Mother and Child

1 Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Grant Ge 248/2

1 Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Grant Ge 248/2