Skip Navigation

Rheumatology 2008 47(Supplement 3):iii6-iii8; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken154
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Carp, H. J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Shoenfeld, Y.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Carp, H. J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Shoenfeld, Y.
Related Collections
Right arrow Pregnancy and Rheumatic Diseases
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Autoantibodies as predictors of pregnancy complications

H. J. A. Carp1, P. L. Meroni2 and Y. Shoenfeld3

1Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer & Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2Allergy, Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology Unit, IRCCS Ist. Auxologico Italiano, University of Milan, Milan, Italy and 3Department of Internal Medicine ‘B’ and Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Correspondence to: Y. Shoenfeld, Department of Internal Medicine 'B', Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, 52621, Israel. E-mail: shoenfel{at}post.tau.ac.il


  Abstract

Certain autoantibodies which are found in autoimmune diseases including CTDs can impair fertility. Reproductive failure may present as pregnancy loss, either as miscarriage, intrauterine fetal death or stillbirth. There are also late obstetric complications such as intrauterine growth restriction, pre-eclampsia and pre-term birth. This review summarizes the possible influences of autoantibodies in reproductive failure, and particularly their predictive value (if available). The aPLs detectable by lupus anticoagulant, anti-cardiolipin or anti-β2 glycoprotein I assays are associated with pregnancy loss and have a positive predictive value (PPV) of 75%. In spite of the general consensus on the management of pregnant aPL-positive women, few well-designed clinical trials have been reported and there is also insufficient data about the PPV of treatment. Anti-thyroid antibodies have been associated with pregnancy loss, and indeed have a PPV of 40%. However, no antibody is pathognomic for pregnancy loss. It may be more appropriate to assess a combination of antibodies rather than one antibody. However, a large meta-analysis of published trials is required in order to determine the prevalence of each particular autoantibody and different combinations of antibodies in different forms of reproductive failure.

KEY WORDS: Recurrent miscarriage, Pregnancy loss, Autoimmunity, Autoimmune diseases, Autoantibodies

Submitted 19 March 2008; Accepted 27 March 2008


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Rheumatology (Oxford)Home page
M. Cutolo, M. Matucci-Cerinic, M. Lockshin, and M. Ostensen
Introduction: new trends in pregnancy and rheumatic diseases
Rheumatology, June 1, 2008; 47(suppl_3): iii1 - iii1.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.