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ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC HORMONE IN PLASMA OF MOTHER AND NEWBORN
Author(s) -
Dokumov Stoyan I.,
Milanov Stefan C.,
Trepetshov Stefan P.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1974.tb00448.x
Subject(s) - adrenocorticotrophic hormone , endocrinology , medicine , adrenocorticotropic hormone , adrenal cortex , fetus , stimulation , hormone , plasma levels , perinatal period , pregnancy , biology , genetics
Summary Plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) was assayed by the radioimmunological method of Berson and Yalow (1968) in 60 mothers and their newborn infants. Twenty healthy, nonpregnant women were also investigated and their plasma ACTH concentrations were lower than those in pregnant women. The plasma ACTH level of the newborn was about half that in healthy, non‐pregnant women and much lower than that in patients in labour. These results suggest that maternal ACTH did not cross the placental barrier and that the development and function of the fetal adrenal cortex depended on stimulation by ACTH from the fetal, and not the maternal, pituitary.