Summary
Some recurrent miscarriages may be due to a host versus graft reaction. Elevated Interleukin 2 (IL2) levels have been found during pregnancy and elevated TNFα levels during acute rejection crises of allotransplantats and so we determined IL2- and TNFα levels in women with recurrent miscarriages. Samples were taken for serum TNFα and IL2 radioimmunoassays (IRE Medgenix, Belgium) from 28 healthy non-pregnant women and in 49 women with at least 3 miscarriages between the 6th and 14th week of pregnancy, 38 women having their first or second miscarriage and 42 pregnant women with no complications. In women with recurrent miscarriage an increase in TNFα (P<0.05) and a decrease in IL2 serum levels (P<0.05) was found compared to women with normal pregnancies. These results support the concept that disturbances of immune tolerance of the fetus may account for some cases of recurrent miscarriage.
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Mallmann, P., Mallmann, R. & Krebs, D. Determination of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and Interleukin 2 (IL2) in women with idiopathic recurrent miscarriage. Arch Gynecol Obstet 249, 73–78 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02390365
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02390365