Relationship of prolactin and estradiol to human chorionic gonadotropin following molar gestation.

Serial plasma concentrations of the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG), prolactin, and estradiol were examined and correlated in 22 women after evacuation of a molar pregnancy for up to 15 weeks into the postmolar phase. The mean levels of prolactin were lower, estradiol levels were higher, and beta-hCG levels were slightly lower but comparable to those reported for women in the first postpartum week. Mean concentrations of all three hormones then declined during the postmolar period; however, beta-hCG remained detectable (greater than or equal to 5 mIU/ml) in some women for up to the fifteenth week, while the nadirs in mean prolactin and mean estradiol levels occurred at 14 and 13 weeks, respectively. The plasma concentrations of beta-hCG correlated with those of prolactin (r = 0.93) and estradiol (r = 0.94), while the levels of the latter two hormones also correlated (r = 0.84).