Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on December 14, 2007
Human Reproduction 2008 23(2):271-277; doi:10.1093/humrep/dem397
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF )
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/2/271    most recent
dem397v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nepomnaschy, P.A.
Right arrow Articles by Baird, D.D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nepomnaschy, P.A.
Right arrow Articles by Baird, D.D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Urinary hCG patterns during the week following implantation

P.A. Nepomnaschy1,3, C.R. Weinberg2, A.J. Wilcox1 and D.D. Baird1

1 Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, PO BOX 12233, MD A3-05, Rm 309, 111 TW Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA 2 Biostatistics Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

3 Correspondence address. E-mail: pablo_nepomnaschy{at}sfu.com

BACKGROUND: Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is used to monitor pregnancy status. Yet the pattern of hCG excretion in the first week following implantation has not been adequately described.Therefore the aim of this study was to describe the average profile of hCG and its variability during the 7 days following estimated implantation in a population of naturally conceived pregnancies.

METHODS: We measured daily hCG concentrations in first-morning urine for 142 clinical pregnancies from women with no known fertility problems. Mixed-effects regression models were used to estimate the hCG trajectory and its variability in relation to pregnancy outcomes.

RESULTS: hCG rose 3-fold between the day of detection and the next day (95% CI = 2.7–3.4). The relative rate of rise decreased thereafter, reaching 1.6-fold (95% CI = 1.5–1.8) between days 6 and 7. HCG levels followed a log-quadratic trajectory, and the patterns of rise were unrelated to number of fetuses, risk of spontaneous abortion or sex of the baby. Later implantations (after 10 luteal days) produced slower rates of increase.

CONCLUSIONS: Although mean hCG follows a log-quadratic trajectory during the first week of detectability, there is high variability across pregnancies. Later implantation may reflect characteristics of the uterus or conceptus that slow hCG production.

Key words: pregnancy/hCG/spontaneous abortion/twins/fetal sex


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.