Fluctuation in the levels of immunoglobulin m and immunoglobulin g antibodies for cardiolipin and beta[2]-glycoprotein among healthy pregnant women

Antiphospholipid antibodies fluctuate during a healthy normal pregnancy. This study aimed to investigate the levels of both immunoglobulin M [IgM] and Immunoglobulin G [IgG] antibodies for cardiolipin and [beta[2]-glycoprotein [beta[2]GP] among healthy pregnant women. This study was conducted between May 2010 and December 2012. A total of 75 healthy Omani pregnant women with no history of autoimmune disease were investigated during their pregnancy and 90 days after delivery at the Armed Forces Hospital in Muscat, Oman. A control group of 75 healthy Omani non-pregnant women were also investigated as a comparison. Levels of IgM and IgG antibodies for both anti-cardiolipin antibodies [ACAs] and [beta[2]GP were measured using a standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The ACA IgM levels were significantly higher in the control group compared to the pregnant women [P <0.001]. No significant differences were observed in the ACA IgM levels between the control group and the pregnant women after delivery. In contrast, ACA IgG levels were significantly higher during pregnancy and after delivery compared with those of the healthy control group [P = 0.007 and 0.002, respectively]. The levels of beta[2]GP IgG were significantly higher during pregnancy than after delivery and in the control group [P = 0.001 and <0.001, respectively]. In this study, ACA IgG levels increased during healthy pregnancies and after normal deliveries whereas beta[2]GP IgG levels increased transiently during the pregnancies. Both phenomena were found to be significantly associated with a transient decline in the levels of IgM specific for these antigens. Therefore, the levels of these antibodies may be regulated during a healthy pregnancy

need for new anti-hepatitis C virus therapeutic strategies targeting the cellular micro-ribonucleic acids?

Infection with the hepatitis C virus [HCV] is a worldwide problem. Patients with chronic HCV infection who are non-responders to standard therapy represent a growing population within the HCV epidemic.Novel, more efficient and tolerable therapies are urgently needed. This review discusses the recent results showing that targeting miR-122, a micro-ribonucleic acid [MicroRNA] that enhances HCV replication, is a new anti-HCV therapy with a high barrier to resistance