Isolation of alpha- and beta-subunits of peak-I hCG and generation of highly specific polyclonal antisera.

Development of polyclonal antisera is still a choice in some hard-pressed budget laboratories. In the present study, an attempt was made to isolate alpha- and beta-subunits from peak-I hCG, generation of polyclonal antisera and their characterization. The anti-hCG-a antisera showed titres of 1: 8000 and anti-hCG-beta antisera 1: 16,000 at 50% binding to radiolabelled hCG in RIA. Studies on specificity using anti hCG-beta antiserum demonstrated no cross-reaction with several hormones tested in the present study, except for hCG-beta and hCG, thus eliciting a highly specific hCG-beta antiserum.