The beta-HCG hormone (gonadotropic chorionic hormone) is produced at the beginning of pregnancy when the egg begins its implication.
Gonadotropic chorionic hormone hormone) is produced only in case of pregnancy. His blood dosage is done in a medical analysis laboratory, only with a medical prescription. It is based on a blood test (it is not necessary to be on an empty stomach). The results are transmitted between 24 and 48 hours after the levy through a letter.
Definition: What is beta-HCG hormone?
“”Gonadotropic chorionic hormone (also called hormone beta-hcg, human chorionic gonadotropin) is a hormone secreted by the chorion (outer membrane of the embryo which provides contact with the uterine mucosa: this is the future placenta) at the beginning of pregnancy. This hormone is starting to be produced when there is a threatening of the egg in the uterine mucosa“, Explains Dr. Thierry Harvey, gynecologist and chief of maternity of Diaconesses, in Paris. The beta-HCG hormone is secreted from the start of the development of the embryo around the 10th day of pregnancy. This hormone is mainly used to maintain the body yellow, an endocrine gland located inside the ovary responsible for the secretion of progesterone and estrogen during the first Trimes of pregnancy.This hormone can be secreted in individuals (man or woman) with ovarian pathologies such as certain types of ovary or testicle tumors. This is the only case where a pregnancy test is positive in a man“Adds the expert.
What is the plasma beta hormone?
The level of this hormone in the blood (commonly called beta-hcg plasma or serum beta-HCG) increases regularly and gradually during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, and doubles every 48 hours. He reached a peak between the 7th and the 12th week of pregnancy. Generally around the 4th month of pregnancy, the rate gradually drops to the end of pregnancy. After childbirth, the beta-HCG hormone gradually decreases from the woman’s organism, until they disappear completely. The rates below are indicative values. The best is to transmit the results to the prescribing doctor, your midwife, your gynecologist or the doctor of the analysis laboratory.
What is the calculation of the Hormone Beta-HCG?
The beta-HCG hormone doubles approximately every 48 hours at the start of pregnancy. To calculate the HCG hormone level in the blood, you have to know the result of the first HCG rate analysis. Depending on this rate, the calculator below will consider whether you are pregnant or not, and how long. (Nivel Obtenido of HCG: beta-HCG rate)
Table of the evolution of beta-HCG during pregnancy (per week)
| Pregnancy day/week | Average beta-HCG rate (in MUI/L) |
|---|---|
| 0 | Less than 5 |
| 7 days | Between 5 and 20 |
| 2nd week | Between 100 and 6,000 |
| 3rd week | Between 1,500 and 25,000 |
| 4th week | Between 2,400 and 70,000 |
| 5th week | Between 10,000 and 130,000 |
| 6th week | Between 30,000 and 190,000 |
| 7th week | Between 35,000 and 160,000 |
| 8th week | Between 25,000 and 140,000 |
| 2-3 months | Between 30,000 and 100,000 |
| 17-24 weeks (4-6 months) |
Between 10,000 and 30,000 |
| Above the 25th week (7-9 months) |
Between 5,000 and 15,000 |
| No pregnancy | <15 MUI/ML |
When and why prescribe a dosage of the beta-HCG hormone?
If in theory, for a normal pregnancy, the plasma dosage of the beta-HCG hormone is not useful, most maternities recommend doing a plasma dosage of the beta-HCG hormone said to be qualitative either to confirm pregnancy or to ensure its good progress. Note that this dosage is much more precise and reliable than a urinary pregnancy test (a positive pregnancy test does not systematically confirm the certainty of a pregnancy, on the other hand, if the woman is pregnant, the HCG level exceeds 5i/L in the blood in implication). Only HCG dosage makes it possible to confirm or deny pregnancy and to date the beginning of pregnancy with precision. “”On the other hand, if the pregnant woman has bleeding during her pregnancy, we will then prescribe an ultrasound as well as a dosage of the Hormone Beta-HCG, which will allow you to know a little more about her pregnancy: is there a risk of miscarriage? Is it an extra-uterine pregnancy? Is it a multiple pregnancy (twins, tripled …)? … In this case, the dosage will be quantitative, that is to say that this examination will give a figure that will have to be interpreted, knowing that for a normal pregnancy, the rate of hormone beta-hcg doubles every 48 hours“, Explains the gynecologist. It is also possible to prescribe a dosage of the beta-HCG hormone to detect any chromosomal anomalies (in case of screening for Down’s syndrome, in this case the HCG rate is higher than what is normally expected. It will be necessary to combine these results with other markers), or the tumors of the placenta, which are very rare.
What is the normal HCG hormone level?
The HCG level measures the concentration of the pregnancy hormone, the gonadotrophin hormone. Its rate is maximum in the 3rd month of pregnancy. The HCG level will then gradually drop until childbirth.
| Normal HCG rate | |
|---|---|
| Children and men | less than 1 IU/L |
| Women who | less than 2 IU/L |
| Menopausal women | less than 7 IU/L |
| Pregnant women (10th day after fertilization) | Above 5 IU/L, but generally between 8 and 10 IU/L |
What does a negative beta-hgc rate mean?
We consider that the dosage of beta-HCG is negative if the value obtained is less than 5 IU/l. This means that the woman is not pregnant.
What does a positive beta-HGC rate mean?
We consider that the dosage of beta-HCG is positive when the value obtained is greater than 5 IU/L. This means that the woman is pregnant.
What does a low beta-HCG level mean?
From the beginning of pregnancy, the rate of the Hormone Beta-HCG is supposed to double every 48 hours, it evolves until reaching a peak in the 3rd month of pregnancy then it stabilizes and gradually decreases until childbirth. Apart from this normal evolution, it can fall quickly:
→ In case of miscarriage
→ In case of extra-uterine pregnancy (the egg is fixed in a place, but does not settle in the uterus): “Beta-HCG levels are significantly lower than normal rates for the corresponding pregnancy week. Depending on the HCG level, we will prescribe a drug treatment (an equivalent of chemotherapy) and above all, we will monitor the decrease of these hormones“, Assures the gynecologist.
What does a high beta-HCG level mean?
► A molar pregnancy. A beta-HCG rate that exponentially increases (100,000 IU/L, 200,000 IU/L and more) can be a sign of a molar pregnancy (this remains very rare). The mole is a benign and clever potential tumor which is an overdevelopment of placental cells: no embryo is visible because the uterus is filled with these small cells. Note that an ultrasound is always prescribed to confirm or not molar pregnancy. After the elimination of the mole, it will be necessary to monitor that the HCG rate reaches well 0 and that it does not read, which could be a sign of a recurrence of Mole or a choriocarcinoma (placenta cancer occurring during a pathological pregnancy)
► A multiple pregnancy (twins …). In case of multiple pregnancy, the beta-HCG level is much higher than for a simple pregnancy. However, a high rate does not necessarily confirm that it is a multiple pregnancy. Only an ultrasound will make it possible to confirm in a sure way a multiple pregnancy. Finally, “If the multiple pregnancy is confirmed, these women are offered non -invasive screening for Down’s syndrome“Concludes Dr. Harvey.
What HCG hormone level in the event of a miscarriage?
In the event of a miscarriage, the rate of the beta-HCG hormone collapses. One or more repeated dosages can be observed every 48 hours which show declining values (by around 50% every 12 hours), while rates should increase.
A Extra pregnancy–uterine (GEU) is the term used when the fertilized egg develops outside the uterus. “In the event of extra-uterine pregnancy, beta-HCG levels are significantly lower than normal rates for the corresponding pregnancy week. Depending on the HCG levels, we will prescribe a drug treatment (an equivalent of chemotherapy) and above all, we will monitor the decrease of these hormones“Indicates the gynecologist.
On the Health Forum: discussions about beta-hcg
Retain
► The Hormone Beta-HCG is only secreted in pregnant women around the 10th day of pregnancy.
► The rate of beta-HCG increases until the end of the 3rd month of pregnancy and then stagnates and drops until the end of pregnancy.
► Only the dosage of HCG makes it possible to confirm or deny a pregnancy.
► It is not necessary to be on an empty stomach to carry out a dosage of the beta-HCG hormone.
► In the event of a miscarriage, the rate of the beta-HCG hormone collapses.
Thank you to Dr. Thierry Harvey, gynecologist and maternity chief of the Diaconesses, in Paris.
