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Stephen Tong, Luk Rombauts, Annegien Mulder, Budi Marjono, Joseph L. Onwude, Euan M. Wallace, Increased Day 15–17 Serum Pro-αC Inhibin Levels Specific to Successful Pregnancy, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 89, Issue 9, 1 September 2004, Pages 4464–4468, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2004-0025
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In early pregnancy, serum levels of the luteal-derived hormone pro-αC inhibin peak by the second week after conception. Whether this early rise is biologically important and a consistent feature of only successful pregnancy is unknown. We undertook a prospective cross-sectional study to determine whether serum pro-αC inhibin levels at d 15–17 are predictive of a successful clinical in vitro fertilization pregnancy and compared levels between fresh embryo transfer (ET) and frozen-thawed ET. Median (95% confidence interval) pro-αC inhibin levels were 68 (57–76) pg/ml in 204 women who did not become clinically pregnant after ET, significantly lower than in either 90 women who became clinically pregnant after fresh ET and who had 3139 (1684–4220) pg/ml or in 39 women with a successful frozen ET who had 877 (678–1111) pg/ml. Pro-αC was highly sensitive and specific in predicting clinical pregnancy success but did not improve on the performance of human chorionic gonadotropin. Pro-αC inhibin levels were not correlated with progesterone or human chorionic gonadotropin. Levels were no higher in singleton compared with multiple pregnancies and did not increase across gestation, suggestive of a luteal source. The increase in circulating pro-αC inhibin in very early pregnancy is highly specific to clinical pregnancy, suggesting a possible biological role in early gestation.
