[Method and evaluation of hormone assays in practical obstetrics and gynecology]

Hormone assays are very important in obstetrics and gynecology. Today, I want to talk about how to measure hormones and how to evaluate the data obtained for therapeutic purposes. In humans, there are two mechanisms of control, neural control and endocrine control. Generally speaking, the neural system controls organs directly via various neurotransmitters, while the endocrine system controls organs by hormones transported in the blood. In fact, recent progress in hormone research has shown that this concept should be modified, because some hormones act as neurotransmitters or regulate other cells or even endocrine cells themselves in the same organ. But I shall not go into this. Today's lecture is focused on hormones that are closely related to clinical obstetrics and gynecology. The hormones that are important are those in females, reproduction, and pregnancy, and tumors. First, and most important, is that patients acquire femininity in the physiological and psychological sense by hormones. The hormones closely related to this are estrogens and pituitary hormones. For reproduction, cyclic hormonal change is important. In the reproductive period, women have menstruation and ovulation along with cyclic changes of ovarian and pituitary hormones. After conception, various kinds of hormones, including hCG, HPL and estriol, are secreted from the feto-placental system. These hormones are used clinically as a markers of placental function. Hormones also have important roles in oncology. hCG is an excellent marker of trophoblastic diseases. Endometrial cancer is expected respond to large doses of progestins if they have progesterone receptors. There are three types of hormone assays, biological assays, immunological assays and chemical assays.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)