Skip to content
Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter December 7, 2011

The hCG assay or pregnancy test

  • Laurence A. Cole EMAIL logo

Abstract

This review examines human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) or pregnancy tests from multiple perspectives. It first investigates the molecule hCG and shows that the term represents five independent molecules differing in carbohydrate and meric structure that share a common amino acid sequence. The review goes on to show that multiple degradation produces also the need to be tested for an hCG or pregnancy test to be optimally efficient. The review then carefully examines the literature showing the sensitivity and specificity of automated laboratory tests. Point-of-care pregnancy tests are then investigated along with over-the-counter pregnancy tests. Appropriate detection of hyperglycosylated hCG, nicked hCG, nicked hCG missing the β-subunit C-terminal peptide and nicked hyperglycosylated hCG is a limitation on all pregnancy tests. In the opinion of the author, just one automated laboratory test, the Siemen’s Immulite, one point-of-care test, the Beckman-Coulter Icon 25, and one brand of over-the-counter device, First Response, are suitable for early pregnancy detection and possibly other applications.


Corresponding author: Laurence A. Cole, PhD, USA hCG Reference Service Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, MSC10 4410 1, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA

Received: 2011-9-12
Accepted: 2011-11-9
Published Online: 2011-12-07
Published in Print: 2012-04-01

©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

Downloaded on 28.3.2024 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/cclm.2011.808/html
Scroll to top button