ANTITHYROID ANTIBODIES AND THE ASSOCIATION WITH NON ORGAN-SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN RECURRENT PREGNANCY LOSS

OBJECTIVES: 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. STUDY DESIGN: 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 healthy blood donors served as controls. RESULTS: 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. COMMENTS: 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.