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Chlamydia1 antibodies in women who suffer miscarriage
Author(s) -
Osser Stellan,
Person Kenneth
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1996.tb09665.x
Subject(s) - miscarriage , chlamydia trachomatis , medicine , antibody , pregnancy , obstetrics , titer , gynecology , chlamydia , prospective cohort study , immunology , gestation , abortion , biology , genetics
Objective To ascertain the relation between previous chlamydial infection and miscarriage. Design A prospective study of 349 women who had a miscarriage. Participants Women surgically treated for spontaneous pregnancy loss on an outpatient basis at a hospital. Subjects Three hundred and forty‐nine women who miscarried, of whom 91 had at least one previous miscarriage and 33 had had two or more miscarriages previously. Age‐matched women who had a normal pregnancy served as controls. Interventions Blood samples were drawn from patients and controls for antibody determination. Main outcome measures Patients and controls were compared regarding the frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis IgG antibodies (titre 2 1/32). Antibodies to C. pneumoniae were also analysed to study cross reactivity. Results The frequency of IgG antibodies among the patients was 137/349 (39.3%) which was not statistically different from that among controls (116/349; 33.2%). Even among those who had miscarried previously the antibody frequencies did not differ significantly between patients and controls. The rate of C. trachomatis antibodies was about the same whether or not antibodies to C. pneumoniae were present in both patients and controls. Conclusion No association was found serologically between previous chlamydial infection and miscarriage and no significant cross reactivity between C. pneumoniae and C. trachomatis could be detected.