Human chorionic gonadotropin

Chorionic gonadotropin,
alpha polypeptide
Identifiers
SymbolCGA
Alt. symbolsFSHA, GPHa, GPHA1, HCG, LHA, TSHA
NCBI gene1081
HGNC1885
OMIM118850
RefSeqNM_000735
UniProtP01215
Other data
LocusChr. 6 q14-q21
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StructuresSwiss-model
DomainsInterPro
chorionic gonadotropin,
beta polypeptide
Identifiers
SymbolCGB
Alt. symbolsCGB3
NCBI gene1082
HGNC1886
OMIM118860
RefSeqNM_000737
UniProtP01233
Other data
LocusChr. 19 q13.3
Search for
StructuresSwiss-model
DomainsInterPro

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone for the maternal recognition of pregnancy produced by trophoblast cells that are surrounding a growing embryo (syncytiotrophoblast initially), which eventually forms the placenta after implantation.[1][2] The presence of hCG is detected in some pregnancy tests (HCG pregnancy strip tests). Some cancerous tumors produce this hormone; therefore, elevated levels measured when the patient is not pregnant may lead to a cancer diagnosis and, if high enough, paraneoplastic syndromes, however, it is unknown whether this production is a contributing cause or an effect of carcinogenesis. The pituitary analog of hCG, known as luteinizing hormone (LH), is produced in the pituitary gland of males and females of all ages.[1][3]

Beta-hCG is initially secreted by the syncytiotrophoblast.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b Cole LA (January 2009). "New discoveries on the biology and detection of human chorionic gonadotropin". Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. 7: 8. doi:10.1186/1477-7827-7-8. PMC 2649930. PMID 19171054.
  2. ^ Gregory JJ, Finlay JL (April 1999). "Alpha-fetoprotein and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin: their clinical significance as tumour markers". Drugs. 57 (4): 463–467. doi:10.2165/00003495-199957040-00001. PMID 10235686. S2CID 46975142.
  3. ^ Hoermann R, Spoettl G, Moncayo R, Mann K (July 1990). "Evidence for the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and free beta-subunit of hCG in the human pituitary". The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 71 (1): 179–186. doi:10.1210/jcem-71-1-179. PMID 1695224.