Stimulation of human chorionic gonadotropin secretion by glucocorticoids

The effects of glucocorticoids on hormone secretion by human placenta in organ culture were studied. The addition of cortisol resulted in a fourfold increase in human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) secretion over that in untreated cultures after 144 hours' incubation (P less than 0.05), and a twofold increase in hCG was observed in the presence of cortisone (P less than 0.01). Dexamethasone stimulated hCG secretion in a dose-response manner (r = 0.9542; P less than 0.01). Progesterone, which suppresses hCG under these conditions, decreased the cortisol-enhanced secretion of hCG (r = -0.9794; P less than 0.01). No change in the secretion of human chorionic somatomammotropin was observed, but glucocorticoids increased heat-stable alkaline phosphatase activity (P less than 0.001). The physiologic significance of glucocorticoid effects on placental hormone synthesis is discussed.