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Epidermal Growth Factor in Urine of Nonpregnant Women and Pregnant Women Throughout Pregnancy and At Delivery^*

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati, (G.E.H., L.F.M., T.A.S.) Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0526
the Departments of Biochemistry (Ch. V.R., M.J.B., G.S.S.) and Obstetrics Gynecology (Ch. V.R.), University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky 40292

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Glen E. Hofmann, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia 23507.

Human epidermal growth factor (EGF) concentrations were measured by a specific solid phase RIA in random urine samples collected throughout the menstrual cycle of normal menstruating women (n = 8), women with tubal sterilization (n = 6), women taking a low dose oral contraceptive (n = 5), and women throughout pregnancy (n = 52) and delivery (n = 35). There were no differences in EGF concentrations between the proliferative and secretory phases of the menstrual cycle (P > 0.05). Normal menstruating women had higher urinary EGF concentrations [mean ± SE, 37.2 ± 6.0 µg/g creatinine (4.23 ± 0.68 ng/µmol)] than women with tubal sterilization [32.7 ± 4.0 (3.71 ± 0.45)] or women taking a low dose oral contraceptive [19.5 ± 6.0 (2.21 ± 0.68)], but the differences were not significant (P > 0.05). During pregnancy, urinary EGF concentrations increased linearly from 6-20 weeks gestation (r = 0.76; P < 0.001), then declined toward term (r = –0.71; P < 0.001). EGF concentrations in early pregnancy (<12 weeks) or at term did not differ significantly from those in normal menstruating women (P > 0.05). For women delivering normal, appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants, there was no correlation between urinary EGF concentrations and fetal weight or sex (P > 0.05). Urinary EGF concentrations in women delivering normal AGA infants [52.7 ± 2.5 (5.98 ± 0.28); n = 16] did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) from those in women with class A/B diabetes [41.9 ± 2.8 (4.76 ± 0.31); n = 6] or women delivering twins [45.6 ± 2.6 (5.18 ± 0.29); n = 8] with a greater fetoplacental mass. However, women delivering an intrauterine growth-retarded fetus with decreased fetoplacental mass had lower urinary EGF concentrations (24.9 ± 2.2 (2.83 ± 0.25); n = 5] than women with normal AGA infants (P < 0.01). The significance of the rise in the urinary EGF concentration late in the second trimester and lower urinary EGF concentrations in women delivering intrauterine growth-retarded infants is not known, but may reflect an important physiological role for EGF in fetal-maternal hormonal interaction and development.

^* Presented in part at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, Toronto, Canada, 1986.

Received June 18, 1987.

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