Pregnancy tests using animals

Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is a hormone that is produced when a woman is pregnant, and this is because the placenta is responsible for its production. It takes approximately 9 days for the fertilized egg to move from the fallopian tubes to the uterus, where it implants itself into the walls of the uterus. Then, the placenta will begin to develop and release hCG into the mother's bloodstream, which can get passed into the urine. It takes around 6 days after the implantation of the fertilized egg, or just after the first menstrual period is missed, to detect hCG levels in the blood. The pee-on-a-stick pregnancy test only detects the presence of hCG, and cannot measure the level of hCG in the blood. Therefore, they can be used as a screening for pregnancy, however the level of hCG can also provide information about the pregnancy. Normally, the hCG level increases and peaks at the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and no hCG is detected after the delivery of the baby. The amount of hCG can also reflect the pregnancy. Less hCG is released in a single pregnancy. Similarly, more hCG is released if the mother is carrying triplets, than if she is carrying twins. hCG blood tests can also screen for birth defects. In an individual, hCG should not be present unless they are pregnant. However, hCG can also be produced by germ cell tumours, which are tumours from eggs or sperms. The hCG test can be used to screen for uterus cancer, or a molar pregnancy, which is when there is abnormal placental growth in the uterus. The hCG test can also be done after a miscarriage to ensure that a molar pregnancy is not present. In men, the hCG test can be used to screen for the presence of testicular cancer. == Hogben Test ==

The Hogben test, named after the British zoologist Lancelot Hogben, was one of the most reliable and rapid pregnancy tests from the 1940s to the 1960s. The Hogben test uses female frogs, unlike the Galli-Mainini test which uses male frogs. Hogben's earlier works revolved around pituitary hormones and frogs. One day, Hogben and his team observed that the skin colour of the adult frogs was dependent on their growing environment. The colour ranges from a dark environment which led to black skin colour, to a light environment where light-coloured frogs were found. Hogben hypothesized this being the result of the pituitary gland's presence. Hogben validated his hypothesis by proving that the removal of the pituitary gland would result in the white skin colour of frogs regardless of their growing environment. While Hogben was carrying on with his work when he moved to South Africa in 1927, where his research revolved around injecting Xenopus laevis with ox pituitary gland extracts, he accidentally discovered that Xenopus frogs would ovulate within a day if they were injected with pituitary extracts, as they were very sensitive to any hormonal changes. In reality, different studies have measured the test's accuracy as 93.1%, 97.99% and 99.93%, respectively. Testing procedures for the Hogben Test The Hogben test procedure consisted of injecting a sample of women's urine into the skin on the back of the frog, specifically into the dorsal lymph sac. Around 12 hours later, results could be seen. If the woman was pregnant, then the frog would be ovulating, and a small cluster of eggs could be seen at the rear end of the frog. Interestingly, the same could be observed in the male species of Xenopus laevis as well, and they were seen to produce sperm upon injection of a pregnant woman's urine. This mechanism is due to the pituitary hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is present only in a pregnant woman's urine. If the woman is not pregnant, no sperm or egg would be produced from the male or female frog respectively. Advantages Previous pregnancy tests, called A-Z tests or rabbit tests, were troublesome and time-consuming. They consisted of injecting women's urine twice a day, for three days, into mice or rabbits. Then, the mice or rabbits would have to be killed and scientists would examine if the animals had enlarged ovaries. This ovary growth is due to the hCG. Hogben tests were soon more popular and performed more widely than the A-Z tests because results could be seen in less than a day, and yielded highly accurate results. Moreover, Hogben tests did not involve killing the frogs, so each frog could be reused again, unlike in the A-Z or rabbit tests where the animals would have to be killed to examine ovary enlargement. Xenopus laevis were also easier to maintain than rodents or rabbits, and raising them came at a lower cost. This efficient and reliable Hogben test was used till the development of an even simpler and animal-free pregnancy test in the late 1960s. The African clawed frog is nearly unaffected by exposure to the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus, which has been linked to dramatic population declines of amphibian species all around the globe. Since the global spread of the fungus coincides with the period of increased trade of the African clawed frog, it has been suggested that the frog may have been the vector of the initial global spread of the fungus. Today, Hogben's test has become obsolete, however, it has made Xenopus frogs an important model and organism in the scientific community, and the Xenopus species are used to study a wide variety of diseases. Even the tadpoles of the Xenopus species have been incorporated as an organism used in the study of developmental biology, such as in frog-based diagnostic tools of polycystic kidney disease. == Galli Mainini test ==

Carlos Galli Mainini (1914–1961), who also specialized in endocrinology, tried to improve on the existing Hogben's test, which took over 12 hours for early screening of pregnancy. After making the observation that male frogs or toads generate spermatozoa after long contact with female frogs, the gonadotropic hormone would be secreted from the females' bodies. Similar to the Hogben test, a small amount of the women's urine would be injected into the dorsal lymph sac of the male frog. Pregnant women contain the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin in their urine. Therefore the presence of this hormone in the urine injected into the male frog, would cause the frog to release sperm within three hours. == References ==