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gonadotropin
(go″nә-do-tro´pin)
any hormone having a stimulating effect on the gonads. Two such hormones are secreted by the adenohypophysis (anterior pituitary): follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone; both are active, but with differing effects, in the two sexes. Called also gonadotropic hormone.
chorionic gonadotropin
, human chorionic gonadotropinHCGhCG
a glycopeptide hormone that is produced by cells of the fetal placenta and maintains the function of the corpus luteum during the first few weeks of pregnancy. It is thought to promote steroidogenesis in the fetoplacental unit and to stimulate fetal testicular secretion of testosterone. It can be detected by immunoassay in the maternal urine within days after fertilization; this provides the basis for the most commonly used pregnancy test.
the same principle obtained from the urine of pregnant women, used in treatment of certain cases of cryptorchidism and male hypogonadism, to induce ovulation and pregnancy in certain infertile, anovulatory women, and to increase the numbers of oocytes for patients attempting conception using assisted reproductive technologies such as gamete intrafallopian transfer or in vitro fertilization; administered intramuscularly. See also choriogonadotropin alfa.
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