Ovum factor and early pregnancy factor.
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Abortion, Induced↗
Biomedical subjects
B E Rolfe
Publications and source records attributed to B E Rolfe.
Detection of an early pregnancy factor-like substance in sera of patients with testicular germ cell tumors.
Early pregnancy factor (EPF) is produced by both maternal and fetal tissue1,2 and has been detected previously only during pregnancy.3,4 The present report describes the detection of EPF, or an EPF-like substance (tEPF), in serum from patients with germ cell tumors of the testis. tEPF, or its free components, tEPF-A and tEPF-B, were detected in all 11 patients with nonseminomatous tumors and in 5 of 10 patients with seminoma. It was not detected in serum from healthy male controls nor in patients with non-germ cell tumors or benign testicular disease. It is suggested that tEPF may be an additional serum marker for germ cell tumors and may expand the group already detectable by such markers.
Chaperonin 10↗
Early pregnancy factor is an immunosuppressive contaminant of commercial preparations of human chorionic gonadotrophin.
Early pregnancy factor (EPF) is a pregnancy associated substance detected in human serum and urine throughout the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. It has also been detected in several commercial preparations of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). The various molecular weight forms of EPF which occur in human pregnancy serum, urine and commercial hCG preparations have been partially characterized and found to be similar to each other but distinct from hCG. Further evidence is presented which suggests that it is EPF rather than hCG which is responsible for the immunosuppressive activity of some crude hCG preparations.
Chaperonin 10↗
Detection of fetal wastage.
Production of the pregnancy-specific protein early pregnancy factor (EPF) was monitored by the rosette inhibition test in a group of 13 nulliparous women. EPF could be detected in serum within 48 hours of fertilization; of 28 cycles in which intercourse took place at the time of ovulation, EPF was detected in 18. However, EPF production continued for more than 14 days in only four cases. Successful pregnancy was maintained in two of these while in the other two, disappearance of EPF preceded miscarriage. In the remaining 14 cases, EPF disappeared from the serum before the onset of menstruation. A high incidence of early embryonic loss is suggested.
Animals↗
Ovum factor: a first signal of pregnancy?
Previous studies have shown that, in the mouse, a factor is produced by the fertilized ovum within 24 h of mating. It cooperates with prolactin to stimulate ovarian production of component B or early pregnancy factor (EPF). This paper presents an initial characterization of the substance, termed ovum factor (OF). An indirect assay based on the rosette inhibition test for EPF has shown that OF is first released upon penetration of the ovum by the fertilizing spermatozoon. OF continues to be produced at least until blastulation. Processes which parthenogenetically activate the ovum are also capable of stimulating OF release from unfertilized ova. Gel filtration studies reveal that OF exists in multiple MW forms of approximately 160,000; 2,800; and 1,500. A substance with these characteristics has not been described previously; it may represent the first embryonic signal to the mother.
Animals↗