title: A study of early pregnancy factor activity in the sera of patients with unexplained spontaneous abortion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Seventy-seven sera samples obtained from 51 patients (6-20 wk gestation) with unexplained spontaneous abortions including 20 threatened abortions (TA), 13 inevitable abortions (IA), and 18 intrauterine fetal growth retardation (IFGR), as well as 9 sera from 9 patients (6-20 wk gestation) with hydatidiform mole (HM), were detected for early pregnancy factor (EPF) by rosette inhibition assay. Rosette inhibition titer (RIT) was used to express EPF activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RIT value of EPF was 5.95 +/- 0.69 (mean +/- SD) in the TA group; 4.06 +/- 0.93 in the IA group; 3.50 +/- 0.71 in the IFGR group, and 4.00 +/- 0.71 in the HM group. Except for the TA group, in which the mean RIT was in normal pregnancy range, the RIT in the other three groups was significantly lower (P < 0.01) then that of the normal pregnancy group (5.81 +/- 0.68).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that measurement of EPF is a sensitive method for judging survival of the embryo. It may be used to predict the prognosis of the patient with unexplained spontaneous abortion.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Reproductive Immunology, Shanxi Medical College, Taiyuan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shu-Xin
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhen-Qun
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D000032:Abortion, Therapeutic; D000033:Abortion, Threatened / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D018835:Chaperonin 10; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000097:blood; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D006828:Hydatidiform Mole / Q000097:blood; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010455:Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D012397:Rosette Formation; D013491:Suppressor Factors, Immunologic; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D018835:Chaperonin 10; D010455:Peptides; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D013491:Suppressor Factors, Immunologic; C025124:early pregnancy factor