Human chorionic gonadotropin can inhibit the blast cell transformation of human lymphocytes, both Phytohemagglutinin-induced and in mixed-lymphocyte reactions. This immunosuppression is noncytotoxic, and specific as shown by the contrasting response of lymphocytes to human serum albumin in similar culture systems. These findings and the high rate of production of this hormone at the surface of the implanting trophoblast support the hypothesis that human chorionic gonadotropin may play an important immunosuppressive role in vivo to prevent the rejection of the fetal allograft by the maternal host.
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Teasdale et al. (2010) studied this question.