Comparison of urinary free beta (hCG) and beta-core (hCG) in prenatal screening for chromosomal abnormalities

Urinary hyperglycosylated hCG in first trimester screening for chromosomal abnormalities

“…Based on these preliminary observations, H-hCG might also be useful in the ®rst and second trimesters for detecting trisomy 13 and 18. Finally, none of the urinary markers described in the previous ®rst trimester studies (Cuckle et al, 1996;Kornman et al, 1997;Macintosh et al, 1997;Spencer et al, 1997;Hallahan et al, 1998) performed as well as H-hCG in our study. However, this study was performed on a limited number of Down syndrome cases.…”

“…So far, there have been only ®ve studies published regarding urinary screening, principally or solely in the ®rst trimester of pregnancy (Cuckle et al, 1996;Kornman et al, 1997;Macintosh et al, 1997;Spencer et al, 1997;Hallahan et al, 1998). In these studies bcore hCG, free b-hCG and/or total oestriol were used as urinary markers.…”

Human choriogonadotrophin protein core and sugar branches heterogeneity: basic and clinical insights

“…It seems that free hCGb can identify up to 95% of the affected fetuses, following a model with a false-positive rate fixed in 5% (Falcon et al, 2006). In trisomy 21, the levels of hCGb remain between 1.40 and 3.5 MoM, higher up to the second trimester (Hallahan et al, 1998;Hsu et al, 1999;Malone et al, 2005). A free nicked hCGb form is also high in Down's syndrome and, as a potential marker, levels higher than 4.7 MoM were found (Rotmensch et al, 1996).…”

Dimerization of urinary β-core/hCFβcf: a cause of poor β-core assay performance in Down syndrome screening studies

“…This loss of immunoreactivity is of considerable concern and Dr Cole and colleagues make a strong case for a urinary Down syndrome screening policy based on the measurement of urinary -core if measured within seven days of receipt and stored in a refrigerator, not frozen. This, they propose, explains the poor results recently reported in some studies (Spencer et al, 1996;Hayashi and Kozu, 1995;Hallahan et al, 1998;Canick et al, 1999).…”

“…However, the initial promising studies were carried out by ourselves using a polyclonal antisera (S504) competitive radio-immunoassay developed in the Williamson Laboratory (Lee et al, 1991;Cuckle et al, 1994). Subsequent, disappointing, studies carried out by Howard Cuckle's group and others used a commercial ELISA: the Chiron Diagnostics Triton urinary gonadotrophin peptide (UGP) EIA to measure -core (Spencer et al, 1996;Hallahan et al, 1998;Canick et al, 1999). This assay uses paired monoclonals in a directly proportional assay.…”