Serum Leptin Levels in Women with Immunological Recurrent Abortion

Introduction: Recurrent abortion (RA) may be a consequence of aberrant expressionof immunological factors during pregnancy. Although the relative importance ofimmunological factors in human reproduction remains controversial, substantialevidence suggests that autoantibodies contribute to reproductive failure. Production ofsuch antibodies is under the control of cytokines; and leptin, besides its role inreproductive success, has a profound effect on directing the cytokine profile towardTh1 (cellular) pattern. Therefore, the present study was performed to assess serumleptin levels in women with immunological recurrent abortion.Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, 250 women who attendedAvicenna Infertility Clinic with RA were screened for known causes of abortion from July to December 2008 in Tehran, Iran. Eighty-one patients with normal karyotypesand hormonal profile with normal ovaries and uterus and no signs of infection werecategorized as patients with immunological (IRA, n = 39) or unexplained (URA,n = 42) recurrent abortion based on presence or absence of autoantibodies. After bloodsampling, levels of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-double stranded DNA antibody(anti-dsDNA), lupus anti-coagulant antibody (LACAb), anti-phospholipid antibody(APA), anti-cardiolipin antibody (ACA), anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), antithyroperoxidaseantibody (TPOAb) and anti-thrombin III antibody (ATIIIAb) weremeasured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or chemiluminescentenzyme immunoassay (CLEIA).Results: In IRA group, 9 (23.1%), 24 (61.5%), 25(64.1%) and 1 (2.6%) women wereabove the normal cut-off point for ANA, TgAbs, TPOAbs and AT-III Abs,respectively. IRA patients had normal values of LACAbs, APA and ACA. Withnormal level of fasting blood sugar (FBS), IRA and URA groups had similar serumleptin levels (23.7 ± 13.2 ng/ml vs. 22.7 ± 12.5 ng/ml, respectively). Serum leptinconcentrations showed a positive correlation with weight and BMI in both groups.Conclusion: This study suggests that serum leptin levels are higher in IRA and URApatients than normal women. The findings of this study suggest the need for a morecomprehensive study and comparison of leptin levels in IRA and URA patients towomen with no history of miscarriages.