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Biomedical subjects

M E Wade

Publications and source records attributed to M E Wade.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Interrelationships of human chorionic gonadotropin, human placental lactogen, and pregnancy-specific beta 1-glycoprotein throughout normal human gestation.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), human placental lactogen (hPL), and pregnancy-specific beta 1-glycoprotein (PSBG) were measured by radioimmunoassay in 270 samples of serum from women with uncomplicated pregnancies. All three proteins were significantly correlated with each other in individual samples of serum and with the estimated trophoblastic mass during the first trimester. No significant correlation could be demonstrated between the concentrations of hCG and PSBG in maternal serum during the second or third trimesters or between the concentrations of hCG and hPL during the second trimester. Levels of PSBG and hPL in serum were significantly correlated throughout all three trimesters. These findings suggest that the secretion of hCG, hPL, and PSBG may be regulated by similar control mechanisms during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, after this period, the factors that modulate the production of hCG differ from those that regulate the production of hPL and PSBG.

Chorionic Gonadotropin↗
PubMed1980

Maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin concentrations and fetal sex prediction.

The feasibility of using maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) concentrations for prenatal sex prediction was examined. hCG was mesured in 822 serum samples from 560 women with uncomplicated pregnancies. Significantly higher hCG concentrations were found in the serum of women bearing female fetuses than in the serum of women bearing male fetuses during the third trimester, especially during the 10th lunar month. The data were utilized to construct probability graphs for fetal sex prediction based upon a single maternal serum hCG determination during the third trimester and during the 10th lunar month. However, the utility of these graphs is limited by the small proportion of pregnant women with serum hCG concentrations that were high or low enough to allow a prediction with high probability.

Chorionic Gonadotropin↗
PubMed1979

A randomized prospective study of the use-effectiveness of two methods of natural family planning: an interim report.

Data accumulated to date from the Los Angeles study indicate that the total termination rate for 12 months from the beginning of the training period and from formal entry into the study was high for the ovulation method (OM), and symptothermal method (STM). Voluntary withdrawal was the highest single reason for termination in both methods. The 12 month voluntary withdrawal rate, measured from formal entry into the study, was significantly higher for OM users. Pregnancy rates measured from both the beginning of training and formal entry into the study were significantly higher for OM users than for STM users. Complete analysis of the data collected during the study is currently in progress. It is anticipated that some of the causes for the differences in pregnancy rates and withdrawal rates between the two methods can be identified.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Serum glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit levels in patients with cancer.

The serum glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit concentration was measured in 957 nonpregnant patients with benign disorders and 683 patients with unselected malignancies. Postmenopausal women had significantly higher alpha levels than premenopausal women or men. When the patients were subdivided according to age, sex or disease sites, significant population differences were found for women less than 50 years of age and patients with cancers of presumed neural crest origin. However, individual serum alpha levels in patients with benign disorders or malignancies demonstrated considerable overlap. No population differences in serum alpha concentrations were demonstrated between patients grouped according to stage of disease, suggesting that serum alpha were not directly related to tumor burden. Similarly, there was no statistical association between clinical improvement or deterioration and change in the serum alpha subunit concentration. These results indicate that measurement of the glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit concentration in the serum is not useful for screening patients for cancer or for monitoring the clinical course of patients with the vast majority of cancers.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1979

Widespread distribution of a chorionic gonadotropin-like substance in normal human tissues.

Recent studies have demonstrated that the normal human testes, colon, and liver contain a substance that resembles hCG. To extend these findings, we examined aqueous extracts of a variety of normal human tissues for the presence of this material. The beta-hCG RIA, rat Leydig cell radioreceptor assay, and a newly developed, highly specific hCG RIA were used to measure hCG activity in a serial dilutions of the extracts. Detectable concentrations of the hCG-like material were found in 146 of the 149 individual tissue samples studied. Parallelism was noted between the hCG standard and serial dilutions of extracts of testis, ovary, pituitary, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, stomach, placenta, and some small intestinal tissue samples in the beta-hCG RIA, radioreceptor assay, and the highly specific hCG RIA. An absence of parallelism was found between extracts of nonpituitary tissues and LH in the beta-LH RIA. Pancreatic extracts altered the [125I]hCG used as the labeled ligand in these assays, which led to spurious results. Chromatography of the extracts on Concanavalin A-Sepharose columns revealed that the hCG-like materials from different tissues varied widely in their adsorbtion to Concanavalin A, possibly reflecting differences in their carbohydrate contents. These results indicate that an hCG-like substance is widely distributed throughout normal human tissues and further supports the concept that the fetal genome responsible for hCG production is not completely suppressed in adult tissues.

Aging↗
PubMed1978

Kinetics of growth and ectopic production of human chorionic gonadotropin by an ovarian cystadenocarcinoma cell line maintained in vitro.

An established ovarian papillary cystadenocarcinoma cell line, designated 163, released immunoreactive human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in vitro into the culture medium. The maximal rate of this ectopic activity (10 to 15 ng/day/10(6) cells) occurred at the onset of the logarithmic phase of cell growth and greatly exceeded the intracellular HCG content of cells approaching confluency (0.037 ng/10(6) cells). The HCG production was not detected during the plateau phase of growth. The rate of cellular proliferation and HCG release depended upon the frequency of media change in a manner suggesting that the two processes are interrelated and may be affected by such environmental factors as cell density, nutrient availability, and the accumulation of waste products. The addition of purified HCG to the cultures had no appreciable effect on either the cell growth or the accumulation of HCG. The release of HCG into the medium was greatly stimulated in the presence of sodium butyrate at concentrations from 1 to 10 mM, despite the fact that these concentrations of butyrate resulted in a marked decrease in the cell number/culture in comparison with control media. Equivalent amounts of sodium acetate had no effect on either cell growth or the release of HCG.

Butyrates↗
PubMed1978

Modification of the choriogonadotropin beta-subunit radioimmunoassay for determination of urinary choriogonadotropin.

The choriogonadotropin beta-subunit radioimminoassay has been used extensively to measure human choriogonadotropin in the sera of pregnant women and individuals with trophoblastic and nontrophoblastic tumors. Unmodified, this method cannot be used to measure choriogonadotropin in urine because of interfering substances. We circumvented the non-parallelism between the standards and serial dilutions of urine containing choriogonadotropin by adding pooled urine from men to the standard tubes and limiting the volume of urine to 100 microliter. This modified assay has a sensitivity of 3 int. units/liter of urine and is specific for choriogonadotropin concentrations of 40 int. units/liter of urine. Analytical recovery of choriogonadotropin added to urine ranged from 96 to 105%. The within-assay CV was 7.6%; the between-assay CV was 11.8%. Concentrations of choriogonadotropin in concurrently collected serum and urine samples from pregnant women correlated well. The test can be performed within 24 h by using the double-antibody method for separating bound from free hormone, or in 3 h with a dioxane method. The assay is about 20-fold more sensitive than the 2-min or 2-h slide and tube pregnancy tests, and seven-to 12-fold more sensitive than the radioreceptor assay.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Subclinical spontaneous abortion.

Blood samples were obtained from 5 women during the menstrual cycle in which they had conceived. Although neither the women nor their physicians were clinically aware that conception had occurred, one or more of the blood specimens from each woman contained human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), as measured by a specific radioimmunoassay. Each patient underwent a spontaneous abortion with 4 of the 5 women describing a delayed, but otherwise normal, menses. The fifth noted an unusually abundant amount of vaginal bleeding. Immunologic urinary pregnancy slide tests were negative in the 4 women on whom the tests were performed. The levels of hCG in the serum of these women were abnormally low for the estimated length of gestation, suggesting that defective trophoblastic function may be important in the pathogenesis of this phenomenon. These examples illustrate that some women may conceive and abort so early that the pregnancy and the abortion may remain subclinical. Therefore, it is likely that the true incidence of spontaneous abortions during the first trimester is greater than the presently accepted incidence of 15%.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1976

Serum human chorionic gonadotropin levels throughout normal pregnancy.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels were measured in the sera of 443 pregnant women by the beta-hCG radioimmunoassay in order to determine if the third-trimester secondary peak in hCG levels observed by less specific immunoassays was due to cross-reacting substances. hCG was detected as early as six days after presumed conception and peaked between 56 and 68 days, with a nadir at 18 weeks. No secondary rise in hCG levels was demonstrated, indicating that the nonspecific hCG immunoassays give spuriously high values for hCG during the last trimester of pregnancy.

Chorionic Gonadotropin↗
PubMed1976

Prenatal diagnosis of placental steroid sulfatase deficiency.

Placental steroid sulfatase deficiency is an unusual cause of low estriol production during pregnancy. Its importance lies in the differentiation of this disorder from the more ominous fetal defects that result in low estriol levels. Serum free estriol levels were found to be low or absent in a 25-year-old gravida 3, para 2 woman, while placental lactogen and chorionic gonadotropin levels were normal. An abdominal x-ray revealed no apparent congenital abnormalities and an oxytocin challenge test was negative. The dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) level in the patient's amniotic fluid was 6.8 to 18.4 times greater than those found in control amniotic fluids. The patient's amniotic fluid cortisol level was normal. Twenty-four hours following a normal, spontaneous labor and delivery at 39 weeks, the male infant underwent a synthetic ACTH1-24 stimulation test, with serum cortisols rising from 3.7 to 46 mug/dl at 1 hour. The placenta was morphologically normal on gross, light, and electron microscopic examinations. Steroid 3-alcohol sulfatase and arylsulfatase activities in the patient's placenta were virtually absent. These data indicate that this benign cause of low serum estriol levels may be diagnosed prenatally by elevated amniotic fluid DHEA-S levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

A computerized fetal monitoring system.

A computerized fetal monitoring system has been developed at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. It utilizes unmodified fetal monitors feeding fetal heart rate and uterine pressure data into a minicomputer. The overall accuracy on internal monitoring is 91%. The concept of on-line computer analysis of fetal monitoring records has met with clinical acceptance and is utilized for all patients in labor at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed1975

Presence in normal human testes of a chorionic-gonadotropin-like substance distinct from human luteinizing hormone.

The high rate of human chorionic gonadotropin production by testicular tumors caused us to investigate the possibility that normal human testes contain small amounts of that substance. Extracts of human testes obtained at autopsy demonstrated parallel inhibition curves to the human chorionic gonadotropin standard in a radioimmunoassay specific for the hormone. The immunoreactive material was adsorbed onto concanavalin A, a reaction characteristic of glycoproteins, and was eluted within the chorionic gonadotropin range on Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. Solubilized receptor proteins for the hormone could not be identified in the extracts. The demonstration that the normal human testes contain a glycoprotein similar or identical to human chorionic gonadotropin suggests that the fetal genome responsible for production of the hormone during pregnancy is not completely suppressed in the adult. Excessive productton of this glycoprotein may account for the high levels of human chorionic gonadotropin reported in the serum of patients with germ-cell tumors of the testes.

Adult↗