myelin-basic-protein and Fetal-Death

Immunoreactivity that is contents/affinity of natural antibodies (N-Ab) of IgG class to developmentally related proteins MBP, S100, ACBP14/18 and MP65 were measured in serum samples of 1987 women at their pregnancy terms of 3-12 weeks. The pregnancy results of the examined women were analyzed 4-9 months later. It was revealed that frequencies of cases of stopped early pregnancies, intrauterine and antenatal fetal deaths, and births of newborns with coarse inborn defects are directly related to deviation of the examined maternal N-Ab content/affinity from the physiological limits: abnormally high as well as abnormally low reactivity during first trimester of pregnancy, both could be related to unfavorable results of pregnancy.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Autoantibodies; Carrier Proteins; Female; Fetal Death; Glycoproteins; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Infant, Newborn; LDL-Receptor Related Protein-Associated Protein; Membrane Glycoproteins; Myelin Basic Protein; Nuclear Proteins; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome; Pregnancy Trimester, First; S100 Proteins

The influence of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) on the course and outcome of pregnancy, and the effect of pregnancy on EAE development, was investigated in rabbits and rats. Animals were immunized with encephalitogenic antigen in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) either before or during pregnancy. Abortion or fetal resorption was observed in most of the rabbits immunized before or during pregnancy, but not in pregnant rabbits injected with CFA or saline alone. Fetal loss was higher in those rabbits that developed clinical EAE. In rats, fetal loss occurred only when immunization was carried out during the first half of pregnancy. The appearance of EAE in pregnant rabbits, but not in rats, was delayed until after abortion or termination of pregnancy. The incidence of EAE in rabbits was lower, with milder severity and longer duration. Serum antibody levels to myelin basic protein, the autoantigen of EAE, was lower in pregnant rabbits, but not in rats, as compared to non pregnant animals. These results indicate that in species where pregnancy has a suppressive influence on the development of experimental autoimmune demyelinating disease, immunization with the neuroantigen induces a high rate of fetal loss.

Topics: Animals; Autoantibodies; Autoantigens; Autoimmune Diseases; Demyelinating Diseases; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental; Female; Fetal Death; Fetal Resorption; Myelin Basic Protein; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Pregnancy Outcome; Rabbits; Rats