- Email: [email protected]
Anticomplementary activity in serum of women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss
Znt. J. Gynecol. Obstet., 1989, 28: 85-97 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics
85
Citations from the Literature This is a selection of abstracts of papers taken from tbe literature in the field of obstetrics and gynecology which the Journal’s Editors feel may be of general interest to our readers*
FERTILITY AND STERILITY Anticomplementary activity in serum of women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss Quinn PA, Petric M Department of Bacteriology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont. M5G ZX8, Canada AM. J. OBSTET. GYNECOL.; 158/2 (368-372)/1988/ Viral complement fiiation tests on women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss were complicated by the presence of anticomplementary activity. This activity reflects the presence of a factor(s) in a patient’s serum that nonspecifically fixes complement. When all patient sera tested were compared, 64.7% of women with recurrent pregnancy loss had anticomplementary activity compared with 22.0% among normal fertile pregnant women (p < 0.01). In delineating when anticomplementary activity developed, it was found that 41.8% of women with recurrent pregnancy loss compared with 12.9% of normal pregnant women had this activity on entry to the study (p < 0.01). This was primarily due to the fact that among women with recurrent pregnancy loss 50.0% of the pregnant versus 33.0@/‘of 0 the nonpregnant women had activity (NS). However, 55.2% of the anticomplementary negative women with recurrent pregnancy loss converted to a positive status compared with 15.4% of normal women (p < 0.05). This was directly influenced by a conversion rate of 78.6% during pregnancy among women with recurrent pregnancy loss who entered the study nonpregnant and with no known cause for loss compared with a 33.3% conversion rate in their pregnant counterparts with recurrent pregnancy loss (p < 0.025). Conversion to positive anticomplementary status occurred primarily by 20 weeks of gestation and appeared to be transient. Overall there was no association between the presence of anticomplementary activity and cervical colonization with genital mycoplasmas. The data suggest that women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss develop a serum factor(s), usually by 20 weeks’ gestation, that fiies complement. Thus these observations describe an addition anomaly in the immune system of women who experienced recurrent pregnancy loss.
*Generated from the Excerpta Medica Database, EMBASE.
Unexplained infertility - The value of Pergonal superovulation combined with intrauterine insemination Serhal PF; Katz M; Little V; Woronowski H Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, London WCIE 6HX, UK FERTIL. STERIL.; 49/4 (602-606)/1988/ Sixty-two women with unexplained infertility were studied. Fifteen (group 1) had timed intrauterine insemination (IUI), 25 (group 2) were treated by Perganol (Serono Laboratories, Ltd., Welwyn Garden City, England) superovulation, and 22 (group 3) underwent Pergonal superovulation combined with IUI. Where Pergonal treatment was followed by insemination, a significantly greater pregnancy rate per cycle (P < 0.05) was achieved, whether this group of patients was compared with those treated by IUI alone or with those treated with Pergonal alone. Moreover, the pregnancy rate in group 3 was comparable to that reported following gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT). The authors therefore suggest this form of treatment for patients with unexplained infertility prior to their referral to the more invasive procedure of GIFT. Secretory immune system of the female reproductive tract: I. Immunoglobulin and secretory component*ontaining cells Kutteh WH; Hatch KD; Blackwell RE; Mestecky J Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alabama Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA OBSTET. GYNECOL.; 71/l (56~60)/1988/ We have investigated tissues from the female reproductive tract to determine whether the distribution of cells involved in the formation of secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) molecules is analogous to that described for intestines, bronchus, and mammary and salivary glands. Fresh tissues from fallopian tube, ovary, uterus, and vagina were obtained, and sections were stained with fluorochrome-labeled polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies specific for IgG, IgA, IgAl, and IgA2 subclasses; IgM; secretory component; and J chain. Subepithelial plasma cells were identified in each specimen of fallopian tube, endocervix, ectocervix, and vagina. Approximately two-thirds of the immunoglobulin-positive cells contained IgA and J chain, indicating that they produced polymeric IgA. In comparison to tissues such as spleen and bone marrow, where IgAl-positive cells are produced, we found a high proportion of IgA2-positive cells in fallopian tube, cervix, and vagina. Znt J Gynecol Obstet 28
85
Citations from the Literature This is a selection of abstracts of papers taken from tbe literature in the field of obstetrics and gynecology which the Journal’s Editors feel may be of general interest to our readers*
FERTILITY AND STERILITY Anticomplementary activity in serum of women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss Quinn PA, Petric M Department of Bacteriology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont. M5G ZX8, Canada AM. J. OBSTET. GYNECOL.; 158/2 (368-372)/1988/ Viral complement fiiation tests on women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss were complicated by the presence of anticomplementary activity. This activity reflects the presence of a factor(s) in a patient’s serum that nonspecifically fixes complement. When all patient sera tested were compared, 64.7% of women with recurrent pregnancy loss had anticomplementary activity compared with 22.0% among normal fertile pregnant women (p < 0.01). In delineating when anticomplementary activity developed, it was found that 41.8% of women with recurrent pregnancy loss compared with 12.9% of normal pregnant women had this activity on entry to the study (p < 0.01). This was primarily due to the fact that among women with recurrent pregnancy loss 50.0% of the pregnant versus 33.0@/‘of 0 the nonpregnant women had activity (NS). However, 55.2% of the anticomplementary negative women with recurrent pregnancy loss converted to a positive status compared with 15.4% of normal women (p < 0.05). This was directly influenced by a conversion rate of 78.6% during pregnancy among women with recurrent pregnancy loss who entered the study nonpregnant and with no known cause for loss compared with a 33.3% conversion rate in their pregnant counterparts with recurrent pregnancy loss (p < 0.025). Conversion to positive anticomplementary status occurred primarily by 20 weeks of gestation and appeared to be transient. Overall there was no association between the presence of anticomplementary activity and cervical colonization with genital mycoplasmas. The data suggest that women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss develop a serum factor(s), usually by 20 weeks’ gestation, that fiies complement. Thus these observations describe an addition anomaly in the immune system of women who experienced recurrent pregnancy loss.
*Generated from the Excerpta Medica Database, EMBASE.
Unexplained infertility - The value of Pergonal superovulation combined with intrauterine insemination Serhal PF; Katz M; Little V; Woronowski H Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, London WCIE 6HX, UK FERTIL. STERIL.; 49/4 (602-606)/1988/ Sixty-two women with unexplained infertility were studied. Fifteen (group 1) had timed intrauterine insemination (IUI), 25 (group 2) were treated by Perganol (Serono Laboratories, Ltd., Welwyn Garden City, England) superovulation, and 22 (group 3) underwent Pergonal superovulation combined with IUI. Where Pergonal treatment was followed by insemination, a significantly greater pregnancy rate per cycle (P < 0.05) was achieved, whether this group of patients was compared with those treated by IUI alone or with those treated with Pergonal alone. Moreover, the pregnancy rate in group 3 was comparable to that reported following gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT). The authors therefore suggest this form of treatment for patients with unexplained infertility prior to their referral to the more invasive procedure of GIFT. Secretory immune system of the female reproductive tract: I. Immunoglobulin and secretory component*ontaining cells Kutteh WH; Hatch KD; Blackwell RE; Mestecky J Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alabama Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA OBSTET. GYNECOL.; 71/l (56~60)/1988/ We have investigated tissues from the female reproductive tract to determine whether the distribution of cells involved in the formation of secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) molecules is analogous to that described for intestines, bronchus, and mammary and salivary glands. Fresh tissues from fallopian tube, ovary, uterus, and vagina were obtained, and sections were stained with fluorochrome-labeled polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies specific for IgG, IgA, IgAl, and IgA2 subclasses; IgM; secretory component; and J chain. Subepithelial plasma cells were identified in each specimen of fallopian tube, endocervix, ectocervix, and vagina. Approximately two-thirds of the immunoglobulin-positive cells contained IgA and J chain, indicating that they produced polymeric IgA. In comparison to tissues such as spleen and bone marrow, where IgAl-positive cells are produced, we found a high proportion of IgA2-positive cells in fallopian tube, cervix, and vagina. Znt J Gynecol Obstet 28