title: Antitrophoblast antibodies are associated with recurrent miscarriages.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether antitrophoblast antibodies are associated with unexplained recurrent miscarriages, we used choriocarcinoma cells JEG-3, since these cells are negative for class I and II antigens, but they do express HLA-G, resembling an antigen expression of endovascular and interstitial trophoblasts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic research center.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred ninety-four patients with two or more consecutive, idiopathic recurrent miscarriages (RM; <20 weeks of gestation) were compared with 110 controls with normal pregnancies and without pregnancy complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anti-JEG-3 reactivities were measured by using flow cytometry and comparisons with two in-house standards antibody samples of low and high reactivity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anti-JEG-3 reactivities above the 95% confidence interval of controls were defined as positive.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sera of RM patients reacted significantly stronger with JEG-3 cells than that of controls. In addition, RM patients significantly more often had positive anti-JEG-3 reactivities (17.5%) than controls 5%. This difference was markedly increased with a subgroup of 80 RM patients who had three or more miscarriages, as 27 of these women (34%) were anti-JEG-3 positive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Antitrophoblast antibodies show significantly more mean channel shift reactivities, and positive reactivities are significantly more prevalent in RM patients as compared with controls. Such antibodies may be involved in mechanisms affecting pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Klinikum der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Campus Grosshadern, Germany.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rogenhofer
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ochsenkühn
authors.forename: Viktoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: von Schönfeldt
authors.forename: Rudah Brentano
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Assef
authors.forename: Christian J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Thaler
mesh_terms: D000026:Abortion, Habitual / Q000276:immunology*; D000328:Adult; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002822:Choriocarcinoma / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005858:Germany; D005865:Gestational Age; D059951:HLA-G Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000276:immunology*; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D059951:HLA-G Antigens