Urinary Chorionic Gonadotrophin Excretion During Pregnancy in the Chimpanzee

Abstract

Urinary chorionic gonadotrophin (UCG) activity was followed in fifteen chimpanzees during pregnancy using a commercial immunoassay for human chorionic gonadotrophin. In one of these chimpanzees UCG levels were determined by a bioassay based on the increase in prostate weight in immature rats. The peak level of UCG excretion as determined by bioassay was 16,700 IU/24 h, and excretion rates remained greater than 1,000 IU/24 h for 14 weeks. The commercial human immunoassay appeared to be an easy and reliable method for detecting pregnancy and predicting parturition in the chimpanzee.

ELISA for the measurement of serum and urinary chorionic gonadotropin concentrations in the laboratory macaque

“…Some of these included the hemagglutination inhibition test, known as the N.I.H. Subhuman Primate Pregnancy Test Kit (SHPT), developed by Hodgen and Ross [1974]; a semiquantitative radioreceptor assay (RRA) for monkey LH/CG adapted from the clinical RRA for human LH/CG (Biocept-G™) [Booher et al, 1983]; a quantitative RRA for early diagnosis of pregnancy in M. fascicularis 3 to 4 weeks after conception [Yoshida et al, 1987]; the adaptation of a commercial human pregnancy test (Pregnostican®; Organon, Oss, The Netherlands) to monitor urinary CG in the pregnant chimpanzee [Boorman et al, 1974]; a serum RIA for pregnancy detection based on relative concentrations of CG in the macaque [Tarantal et al, 1993]; and a urinary radioimmumoassay (RIA) for LH and CG in Callitrichid monkeys [Ziegler et al, 1993]. While RIAs and RRAs have been the most sensitive methods available for the determination of early pregnancy in the macaque and other non-human primate species, these assays have all of the disadvantages associated with the hazards and disposal of radioisotopes and are restricted to licensed laboratories.…”