Lymphocytes from pregnant women express human chorionic gonadotropin/luteinizing hormone receptor gene

Previous studies have indicated that human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) has immunoregulatory properties and alters the functions of human lymphocytes. However, it has not been determined whether the gene encoding the receptors for hCG/luteinizing hormone (LH) is expressed in human lymphocytes. Total peripheral mononuclear lymphocytes isolated from blood samples of pregnant women by Ficoll-Paque gradient centrifugation contained mRNA transcripts encoding the hCG/LH receptors and a 50 kDa receptor protein which can bind 125I-hCG. T-Lymphocytes isolated from total mononuclear cell fractions also contained these receptor mRNA transcripts as well as the receptor protein. The levels of receptor transcripts and receptor protein are lower in lymphocytes than in ovarian tissue. These findings suggest that the immunoregulatory actions of hCG are probably mediated by specific receptors in T-lymphocytes from pregnant women.