Stimulation of Kaposi's sarcoma cell growth by urine from women in early pregnancy, the current source for clinical-grade human chorionic gonadotropin preparations.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
In vitro laboratory study on cell cultures (bench research)
PubMed 12190946 · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0625.2002.110411.x
What was done
Researchers tested the effect of crude urine collected from various donor groups—first-trimester pregnant women, third-trimester pregnant women, non-pregnant young women, menopausal women, and men—on the in vitro growth of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) cells. The activity of the urine samples was compared to clinical-grade human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) preparations derived from pregnancy urine.
What was found
The abstract provides no numerical figures, confidence intervals, or p-values. Crude urine from first-trimester pregnant women stimulated KS cell growth. In contrast, urine from third-trimester pregnant women, non-pregnant young women, menopausal women, and men showed neither growth-stimulatory nor growth-inhibitory effects. The pro-KS activity per unit of hCG was higher in early pregnancy urine than in clinical-grade hCG preparations.
Why it matters
Contaminating growth factors co-purified from early pregnancy urine during commercial hCG manufacturing may explain why clinical trials of hCG for Kaposi's sarcoma have yielded contradictory and sometimes paradoxical tumor-promoting results.
Limits
This was an in vitro cell culture study, meaning effects on human patients cannot be directly confirmed. The abstract does not report the number of urine donors, cell culture replicates, quantitative growth rates, or statistical testing. The specific molecular factor driving KS cell proliferation was not identified.
Cited by
- supports Commercial human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is purified from the urine of pregnant women.