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Racial differences in maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin and unconjugated oestriol levels
Author(s) -
Kulch Peggy,
Keener Sherry,
Matsumoto Myles,
Crandall Barbara F.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.1970130306
Subject(s) - human chorionic gonadotropin , medicine , gonadotropin , estriol , obstetrics , endocrinology , estrogen , hormone
We assayed maternal serum samples from 134 black and 268 white women from 16 to 18 weeks of gestation for intact human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and unconjugated oestriol (uE3). Serum from women with high ( ⩾ 2·5 MOMs) or low (risk for Down syndrome ⩾ 1/365) maternal serum alpha‐fetoprotein (MSAFP) levels were excluded. After correcting for maternal weight, we found that median hCG levels were 16 per cent higher in black women but uE3 levels were not significantly different. These results confirm three other studies for hCG and one study for uE3. Corrections are recommended for both maternal serum hCG and AFP before calculating the risk for Down syndrome in black women.