Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1987;4(1):21-31.
doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079x.1987.tb00838.x.

Plasma levels of immunoreactive melatonin, estradiol, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin during pregnancy and shortly after parturition in humans

S F Pang, P L Tang, G W Tang, A W Yam, K W Ng

Plasma levels of immunoreactive melatonin, estradiol, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin during pregnancy and shortly after parturition in humans

S F Pang et al. J Pineal Res. 1987.

Abstract

Plasma concentrations of immunoreactive melatonin, estradiol, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta hCG) were studied between 1000 and 1230 h in 105 Chinese females during six periods of normal pregnancy and 1-5 min after normal delivery. We have also examined the midday levels of immunoreactive melatonin in the cord blood of fetuses and plasma collected 1-5 min after and 24 h after delivery from their mothers. Concentrations of hormone immunoreactivities were determined by radioimmunoassay, and distinct fluctuations of all hormones were recorded during pregnancy. In the pregnant females, there were significant negative correlations between melatonin and estradiol, melatonin and progesterone, beta hCG and progesterone, and beta hCG and estradiol, and positive correlations between melatonin and FSH and progesterone and estradiol. Furthermore, plasma melatonin levels in the cord blood demonstrated no sex difference and were significantly lower than and correlated positively with the levels in their mothers. Our results suggest that sex steroids may inhibit and FSH may potentiate circulating melatonin levels in gravid women; changes in the levels of melatonin during pregnancy may affect the in utero development of the human embryo; and circulating melatonin in the mother may be the major source of blood melatonin in the fetus before parturition.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources