Objective: To evaluate maternal serum immunoreactive inhibin (ir-inhibin) c
oncentrations in women with preeclampsia, and assess the correlation betwee
n serum ir-inhibin and HCG, Methods: The subjects comprised 28 pregnant wom
en with suspected intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) during the third t
rimester. Serum concentrations of ir-inhibin and HCG were measured in 13 wo
men with pre-eclampsia and 15 pregnant women as control subjects. Serum ir-
inhibin was determined by a double antibody radioimmunoassay, and HCG by a
solid-phase immunoradiometric assay. Results: There were no significant dif
ferences in maternal characteristics between the pre-eclamptic group and co
ntrol group. The pre-eclamptic group had significantly higher concentration
s of serum ir-inhibin and HCG compared with the control group. The serum co
ncentrations of ir-inhibin correlated positively with those of HCG, Conclus
ion: The pre-eclamptic patients displayed high serum levels of ir-inhibin a
nd HCG, and this might reflect hyperplasia of trophoblastic cells. (C) 2000
International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. All rights reserved
.