Elevated hCG can be a benign finding in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women

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Figure 1
Recommended protocol for evaluating elevated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in postmenopausal women.

TABLE 1

Common detectable variants of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)

Variant	Biological activity	Structure
Intact hCG	Active	Attached alpha and beta subunit
Nicked hCG	Inactive	Beta-subunit bond broken Quickly splits into separate alpha and nicked beta subunits
Nicked free beta subunit	Inactive	Degraded product of nicked hCG
Free alpha subunit	Inactive
Free beta subunit	Inactive
B-core fragment	Inactive	Final breakdown product of hCG
Hyperglycosylated hCG	Active	Similar to intact hCG, with more carbohydrate side chains attached