Article
Compositional analyses of a human menopausal gonadotrophin preparation extracted from urine (menotropin). Identification of some of its major impurities

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1472-6483(10)62071-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Recently, a highly purified human menopausal gonadotrophin preparation (HMG) was launched. The composition and purity of this HMG (Menopur® Ferring Pharmaceuticals) with a claimed 1:1 ratio of FSH and LH was determined. Three gonadotrophins were observed: FSH, LH and human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). The immunoactivity for HCG was three-fold higher than the immunoactivity for LH. Because of the longer half-life of HCG as compared with LH, about 95% of the in-vivo LH-receptor-mediated bioactivity is attributable to the presence of HCG. This is substantiated by biochemical analyses. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this relatively high amount of HCG can only be explained by assuming the addition of HCG from external sources, which is a well established practice for standardization purposes. In addition to gonadotrophins, a number of other proteins were detected. The amount of these impurities, as determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on a peak-area basis, is at least 30%. Therefore, it is concluded that this HMG preparation contains at most 70% gonadotrophins. Via a proteomics approach three major impurities were identified: leukocyte elastase inhibitor, protein C inhibitor, and zinc-α2-glycoprotein. On the basis of the results obtained in this study, a comparison is made with recombinant FSH.

Section snippets

Henno van den Hooven obtained his PhD degree in 1995 in the field of biophysical chemistry at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He did post-doctoral work in the field of biochemistry at the Dutch Institute for Dairy Research, and at the Wageningen University, The Netherlands. At present, he is head of the Analytical Biochemistry section within the department of Analytical Chemistry for Development at Organon.

References (20)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (64)

  • Clinical Applications of Gonadotropins in the Female: Assisted Reproduction and Beyond

    2016, Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science
    Citation Excerpt :

    In order to obtain reproducible u-FSH batches, a complex purification process has been developed. It provides several consecutive purification steps, starting from hormone absorption and elution, to anion/cation exchange, and hydrophobic chromatography.42 Currently, the purification process remains different among gonadotropin preparations.

View all citing articles on Scopus

Henno van den Hooven obtained his PhD degree in 1995 in the field of biophysical chemistry at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He did post-doctoral work in the field of biochemistry at the Dutch Institute for Dairy Research, and at the Wageningen University, The Netherlands. At present, he is head of the Analytical Biochemistry section within the department of Analytical Chemistry for Development at Organon.

View full text