Urinary hyperglycosylated hCG in first trimester screening for chromosomal abnormalities

Hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotrophin (H-hCG), also known as Invasive Trophoblast Antigen or ITA, is a unique metabolic variant of hCG with more complex oligosaccharide side chains. Concentrations are independent of regular hCG. Urine H-hCG has recently proved to be a highly sensitive marker for Down syndrome screening in the second trimester of pregnancy. We evaluated H-hCG as a potential marker in the first trimester of pregnancy. Maternal urine samples were collected from 10(+0) to 11(+6) weeks of gestation prior to genetic analysis and stored in frozen form. Samples from eight cases of Down syndrome, two cases of trisomy 13, one case of trisomy 18, and 55 control pregnancies were hand-carried frozen to the USA and tested blindly. Samples were tested in a specific H-hCG immunoassay and values were normalized to creatinine concentration. Values were plotted against gestational age, and multiples of control pregnancy median (MoM) calculated. The median level of the MoMs of the eight Down syndrome cases was 3.6 MoM. Five of the eight Down syndrome cases exceeded the 90th centile of the 55 unaffected cases. The MoMs of the trisomy 13 and 18 pregnancies were 0.2, 0.2 and 0.3. All three cases were under the 10th centile of unaffected pregnancies. The results of this study indicate that H-hCG testing may be useful in screening for Down syndrome in the first trimester of pregnancy. Further studies are needed to assess the potential screening values of urine H-hCG and the combination of this test with free beta-subunit, PAPP-A and other markers for Down syndrome in the first trimester of pregnancy.