ABSTRACT
Background: Respiratory Syncytical virus infection is the most common cause of bronchioMtis and viral pneumonia in infancy
Objective: To investigate the placental transfer of RSV-specific IgG in Iranian mothers
Methods: The antibodies were measured in sera of 146 mother/newborn pairs using a commercially available indirect Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay [ELISA]. The studied subjects were among healthy pregnant women who attended to the Zeinabieh Hospital of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in a one year period
Results: A highly significant correlation was observed between RSV-specific IgG in newborns and mothers [r = 0.88]. However, mean RSV-specific IgG antibodies in neonates was significantly higher than that of their mothers [P = 0.019]. In addition, the mean cord/maternal ratio of RSV-specific IgG was detected to be 1.27 +/- 0.60. Maternal blood group, age, parity, previous abortions and neonatal gestational age had no correlation with placental transfer of RSV-specific IgG antibodies
Conclusion: Our finding demonstrates that placental transfer of RSV-specific IgG antibodies is an active process and the main factor that influences this transfer is maternal concentration of these immunoglobulins