Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a glycoprotein hormone secreted in pregnancy, that is made by the embryo soon after conception and later by syncytiotrophoblasts (part of the placenta). Its role is to prevent the disintegration of the corpus luteum of the ovary and thereby maintain progesterone production that is critical for a pregnancy in humans. HCG may have additional functions, for instance it is thought that it affects the immune tolerance of the pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests measure the levels of HCG in the blood or urine to indicate the presence or absence of an implanted embryo. Pregnancy tests employ an antibody that is specific to the β-subunit of HCG (β-HCG). This is important so that tests do not make false positives by confusing HCG with LH and FSH.
β-HCG is also secreted by some cancers including teratomas and choriocarcinomas. Elevated levels cannot prove the presence of a tumor and low levels do not rule it out.
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