Repeated miscarriages may be explained by deficient T cells

Women who experience unexplained recurrent abortions may have a different immune profile from women who have full term pregnancies.

Sergio Romagnani and his colleagues at the University of Florence have discovered that there is a significant difference in cytokine production between women who seem to miscarry recurrently without reason and women who do not (Nature Medicine 1998;4:1020-4). If these observations are confirmed, it may be possible to find a way to intervene therapeutically in future pregnancies.

In general, when an immune response is mounted against an infectious organism or foreign tissue the response is rapid removal or rejection by T helper 1 (Th1) cells. In mouse models it has been shown that during pregnancy the immune …