THE RADIOIMMUNOASSAY OF A PREGNANCY SPECIFIC‐β1‐GLYCOPROTEIN IN PLASMA AS A PREGNANCY TEST FOR SUBFERTILE WOMEN

Abstract

A pregnancy specific-.beta.1-glycoprotein (SP1) radioimmunoassay was used to monitor 72 menstrual cycles of 38 apparently subfertile women who were trying to become pregnant. Measurement of serum SP1 may provide an index of fetal wellbeing and a sensitive determination of SP1 could act as a pregnancy test. Blood samples were taken up to day 42 from the start of the previous menstrual cycle. Using serum SP1 levels greater than 6 .mu.g/l as indicative of pregnancy, 16 positive results were obtained of which 11 were later confirmed by a human chorionic gonadotropin hemagglutination pregnancy test. Some 3 of the 5 women whose pregnancies were not confirmed had a subsequent history of spontaneous abortion.