Histocompatibility in couples with habitual abortion

Thirty couples suffering from habitual abortion as well as thirty normal fertile couples as a control group were subjected to HLA typing and one way mixed lymphocyte culture reaction [MLC] between females and their husbands in each group and between "females and husbands in the other groupo. There was no significant difference in the frequency, of any of the HLA-A or B antigens in females or males of recurrent abortions compared to the normal control group and another larger control group representing the general Egyptian population. However a significant increase was found in sharing of antigens as regards locus A and B and combined at both loci in habitual abortion group compared to the control group. Mothers in the abortion group were found to be significantly hyporesponsive to stimulation by their husband's lymphocytes specifically. There was no significant association between the sharing of HLA antigens and depression in MLC on individual basis, abortions. Their ages ranged from 21-35 years and the number of living children ranged from 3 to 6 children. All wives of abortion and control groups were non pregnant at the time of the study. HLA Typing: Tissue typing for HLA-A and HLA-B antigens for both partners was performed with the use of two stages lymphocyte microcytotoxicity technique [Terasaki et al, 1978] Mixed lymphocyte culture [MLC] reactivity: One way mixed lymphocyte culture was performed [Hartzman et al, 1971] and the following responses were studied: 1.Cellular response of cells from the wives: each stimulated, by her husband in both study and control groups 2.Cellular response of the wives in the abortion group stimulated by men from the control group 3 Cellular response of the wives in the control group stimulated by men from the study group N.Bs:Every MLC combination was done in triplicate. Results of MLC were expressed as stimulation index [SI] and relative response [RR] as follows: SI = Test mean count per minute [cpm] Autologous mean [cpm] Where: Test cpm = Mean counts per minute for a woman's cells [female responder] against mitomycin treated husband's stimulator cells [male stimulator]