What are the functions of human chorionic gonadotropin in pregnant women?

In fact, whenever people mention human chorionic gonadotropin, most people are somewhat unfamiliar with this term. In fact, human chorionic gonadotropin is mainly used to determine whether a woman is pregnant, and the human chorionic gonadotropin in the body of a pregnant woman will undergo corresponding changes during pregnancy. Let’s take a closer look at this aspect below. I hope my explanation can be helpful to everyone.

Human chorionic gonadotropin is a glycoprotein secreted by trophoblast cells of the placenta and is composed of α and β dimers. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) αβ is synthesized by syncytial trophoblasts. A glycoprotein hormone with a molecular weight of 36,700. The α subunit is basically similar to FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), LH (luteinizing hormone) and TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) secreted by the pituitary gland, so they can cross-react with each other, while the structures of the β subunits are different. β-HCG is similar in structure to β-LH, but the last 24 amino acids are not present in β-LH.

Human chorionic gonadotropin enters the maternal blood after fertilization and proliferates rapidly until the 8th week of pregnancy, then slowly decreases in concentration until the 18th to 20th week, and then remains stable. Generally, an increase in the level of human chorionic gonadotropin to at least 2.5MoM is associated with Down syndrome. However, the actual average level of complete human chorionic gonadotropin in the maternal blood of DS patients is only 1.3MoM, which cannot clearly identify DS patients. The human chorionic gonadotropin-related molecules used for DS examination are free b-hCG and high sugar hCG (H-hCG).

(1) It has the functions of FSH and LH, maintaining the life of the menstrual corpus luteum and making it enlarge into the corpus luteum of pregnancy;

(2) Promote the aromatization of androgens into estrogens and stimulate the formation of progesterone;

(3) Inhibit the stimulation of lymphocytes by plant lectins. Human chorionic gonadotropin can be adsorbed on the surface of trophoblast cells to prevent embryonic trophoblast cells from being attacked by maternal lymphocytes;

(4) LH-like function: before the fetal pituitary gland secretes LH, it stimulates the fetal testicles to secrete testosterone to promote male sexual differentiation; it can also promote gonadal development, and in men, it can stimulate the activity of interstitial cells in the testicles and increase the secretion of androgen (testosterone). It is of great significance for the treatment of male patients with combined pituitary deficiency. It can not only promote gonadal development and the secretion of male hormones, but also promote the development of secondary sexual characteristics.

(5) Can bind to the TSH receptors of maternal thyroid cells and stimulate thyroid activity.

What are the functions of human chorionic gonadotropin in pregnant women? As can be seen from the above, the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin in pregnant women will promote the formation of progesterone to a certain extent. At the same time, it can also stimulate the development of the fetal gonads and promote the development of the fetus's secondary sexual characteristics. Therefore, the detection of human chorionic gonadotropin in pregnant women is something that women should do regularly during pregnancy.