Rheumatology 1999; 38: 1228-1233
© 1999 British Society for Rheumatology
Recurrent pregnancy loss and autoantibody profile in autoimmune diseases
Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, National University of Athens and
1 Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece
Correspondence to:
H. M. Moutsopoulos, 75, M.Asias, 115 27, Athens, Greece.
Objective. To explore the association of non-organ-specific autoimmune responses against three distinct Ro antigen-related reactivities (Ro52, Ro60, p57) with a history of pregnancy loss in women with autoimmune disorders.
Materials and methods. Seventy unselected anti-Ro/SSA-positive women were studied in a retrospective cohort study. Forty anti-Ro/SSA-positive women were age matched to an equal number of women with autoimmune disorders who were anti-Ro/SSA negative in a case–control study. The association of reactivities against three distinct antigen specificities (Ro52, Ro60, p57) with recurrent pregnancy loss was investigated. Independence and modification of these associations from the effect of antithyroglobulin, antithyroid peroxidase and anticardiolipin antibodies were also examined.
Results. In the cohort study, reactivity against each of the three antigen specificities (Ro52, Ro60, p57) was independently associated with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss. In the case–control study, the effects were still independent and were not modified when other autoantibodies were considered. In particular, the number of reactivities against Ro52, Ro60 and p57 peptides, and the presence of antithyroglobulin antibodies, were independent predictors of recurrent pregnancy loss (odds ratios 3.35 per each additional reactivity and 5.54 in the presence of antithyroglobulin; P=0.002 and 0.025, respectively).
Conclusions. In women with autoimmune disorders, a history of recurrent pregnancy loss is independently associated with reactivity against each of the three antigen specificities (Ro52, Ro60, p57) and also with the presence of antithyroglobulin antibodies, suggesting that cumulative autoimmune responses against these non-organ-specific and organ-specific antigens correlate with the risk of stillbirth and spontaneous abortion.
KEY WORDS: Recurrent pregnancy loss, Anti-Ro/SSA, Antithyroid antibodies, Autoimmune diseases, Anti-p57
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