Prevalence of autoantibodies in patients with recurrent miscarriages.

Objective: It is well known that the prevalence of several autoantibodies is higher in patients with recurrent miscarriages than in normal women. However, links between individual autoantibodies are unclear. The present study focuses on the possible association between beta 2-glycoprotein I (beta 2-GPI)-dependent anticardiolipin antibody (aCL), lupus anticoagulant (LA), and antinuclear antibody (ANA) in patients with recurrent miscarriages.

Methods: Three hundred and one patients, with a history of two or more unexplained miscarriages, were studied. The titers of beta 2-GPI-dependent aCL and LA were then compared between single-antibody-positive and three-antibody-positive groups.

Results: The prevalences of beta 2-GPI-dependent aCL, LA, and ANA were 3.3, 10.0, and 25.2%, respectively. Four of the 301 patients had all three antibodies. The LA titers in patients with positive values for three antibodies was significantly higher than in cases with only LA.

Conclusions: beta 2-GPI-dependent aCL, LA, and ANA define three distinct, but partly related populations in patients with recurrent miscarriage. We should test at least two kinds of autoantibodies in recurrent aborters, because it has been found that, e.g., beta 2-GPI-dependent aCL and LA are predictors for miscarriages.