title: HLA-A,B compatibility in parents of offspring with neural-tube defects or couples experiencing involuntary fetal wastage.
abstract: To test the contribution of a putative human analogue of the murine T locus to neural-tube defects (N.T.D.) and involuntary fetal wastage, HLA-A, B compatibility between husband and wife was studied in a group of 77 couples with known obstetric histories. The frequency of sharing of HLA-A,B antigens was significantly higher in 13 couples with recurrent fetal loss at one gestational age and in 11 couples whose offspring had had a lethal N.T.D. than in 17 couples with three or more normal pregnancies. The extent of HLA compatibility--that is, the number of antigens shared by husbands and wives--was significantly higher in 16 couples with one spontaneous abortion, 23 couples with recurrent spontaneous abortions, and 21 couples with N.T.D. offspring than in controls. These data are consistent with a contribution of a locus in or near the HLA complex to N.T.D. and involuntary fetal wastage.
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006648:Histocompatibility; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D010290:Parents; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens