Role of anti-human lymphocyte culture cytotoxic antibodies in recurrent spontaneous pregnancy loss women

Abstract

Background : Recurrent spontaneous pregnancy (RSA) is defined as a sequence of three or more consecutive spontaneous abortions. One of the major causes of RSA is immunological where alloimmune antibodies develop towards human leucocyte antigen (HLA) antigens. Earlier research had suggested that anti-HLA antibodies are produced in normal women; studies have been reported that normal pregnant women develop anti-HLA antibodies, mostly after 20-28 weeks of gestation. Aim : To evaluate the role of anti-HLA antibodies in RSA patients Materials and Methods : A total of 80 randomly selected couples with unexplained three or more RSA and control group of 50 normal pregnant women were screened for anti-HLA A and B antibodies. The anti-HLA antibodies were analyzed following the standard two-stage NIH microlymphocytotoxicity assay. Results : In our study group a high frequency of anti-HLA antibodies among women with RSA (26.25%) was detected compared to normal pregnant women (8.0%). Most of the sera showed HLA-A and HLA-B antibodies which had high titer, up to a dilution of 1: 4096. Conclusion : This incidence of high anti-HLA antibodies in RSA women during early weeks of gestation may explain the recurrent pregnancy loss.

Keywords

• Anti-HLA antibodies
• incidence
• RSA