Antithyroid antibodies and the association with non-organ-specific antibodies in recurrent pregnancy loss

Abstract

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the incidence of antithyroid antibodies and non-organ-specific antibodies in women who have had three or more recurrent spontaneous abortions. Sera from 45 women for the presence of antithyroid antibodies to thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxide and for the non-organ-specific autoantibodies to 6 phospholipids, 5 histones, and 4 polynucleotides were analyzed. Sera from 100 apparently health blood donors served as controls. The test results of 14 (31%) of 45 study subjects were positive for one or both antithyroid antibodies compared with 19 (19%) of controls. Five (11%) of 45 patients had positive test results for one or more non-organ-specific antibodies, and 4 (8%) of 45 had positive test results for the lupus anticoagulant by either activated partial thromboplastin, tissue thromboplastin time, or both. Only 3 (21%) of 14 subjects whose test results were positive for thyroid antibodies also demonstrated non-organ-specific autoantibodies. The incidence of antithyroid antibodies in women who have had recurrent abortions appears not to be significantly increased compared with a normal random control population. Antithyroid antibodies do occur, however, with significantly greater frequencies in women with recurrent spontaneous abortions than non-organ-specific autoantibodies (p = 0.02). Organ-specific and non-organ-specific autoantibodies may serve as independent markers of risk for repeated pregnancy loss in patient populations where pregnancy loss is associated with abnormal autoimmune function.