Human serum pregnancy-specific beta1-globulin (beta1-GP) was localized in paraffin sections of placenta and chorioepithelioma of the uterus by indirect immunofluorescence. The structures containing beta1-GP but not human serum albumin were regarded as specifically associated with beta1-GP metabolism. Beta1-GP was found in trophoblastic cells of chorion and Langhans cells of chorioepithelioma. Using the immunoautoradiographic method (I131), we only found beta1-GP in sera of patients with trophoblastic tumours: in 74.3% of 35 patients with chorioepithelioma and in 80% of 25 patients with hydatidiform mole and destructive hydatidform mole. The diagnostic and prognostic significance of the immunochemical test for beta1-GP in trophoblastic tumours is discussed.
Sera from 181 patients, 37 of' which suffered from trophoblastic tumors (hydatidiform mole, destructive hydatidifbrm mole, and chorioepithelioma of' the uterus), I00 patients-with other ,forms of tumors and 43 patients with various gynecological diseases, were studied with the use of an immunological test for the detection of' beta,globulin of "pregnancy zone ". In the control group there were 106 serum samples of women at different stages of pregnancy and 257 samples of normal adults (165 women and 92 men). Thus, 544 serum samples from patients and from normal adults were studied. The immunochemical test for the beta,-globulin was positive in patients with trophoblastic tumors before surgical removal or before chemotherapy. A.fter surgery andlor complete course of' chemotherapy, the test for beta,-globulin became, as u rule,negative. This globulin is detected also in normal pregnancy serum. I t is supposed that the beta,-globulin of'" pregnancy zone '' is synthetized in the placenta and is released in the circulation of women during normal pregnancy; also it is produced by cells of trophoblastic tumors. The diagnostic and prognostic signijicance of the immunochemical test for the " pregnancy zone '' beta,-globulin in trophoblastic tumors is discussed.
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