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Aschheim-Zondek Test (1928)

The basis of the original historic Aschheim-Zondek^[1] test developed in 1928 was to identify the changes in immature female mouse genital system induced by female human urine injected subcutaneously into these immature mice. These changes could be seen by carrying out histology on the mouse ovary to detect follicle development.

• If the woman was pregnant - the presence of hormones (hCG) induced changes in the mouse genital tract physiologically similar to those produced by sex hormones.
  • follicle maturation, corpora heamorrhagicum and corpora lutea formation.
• If the woman was not pregnant - there were no changes induced.
  • only primordial, preantral and antral follicles present.

This early mouse test was later replaced with a similar, but simpler, urine test using either the Frog (Xenopus) or rabbit animal models.

Modern home tests use a simple one step urine sample detecting the presence of the hormone human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG).

Animation based upon original line drawings.^[2]

Aschheim-Zondek Test 1928 Links: MP4 movie | Small Animation | Large Animation | Pregnancy Test | Menstrual Cycle | Human Chorionic Gonadotropin | Week 2 | Mouse Development | Frog Development | Movies

Reference