NEOPTERIN AND RECURRENT SPONTANEOUS ABORTÄ°ON (RSA): THE EFFECT OF CELLULAR IMMUNE SYSTEM ACTIVATION ON SUBSEQUENT PREGNANCY

Abstract

Background: Recurrent miscarriages are common complications in pregnancy. Neopterin is one of the immunologic biomarkers of several diseases related to activation of the cellular immune system. RSA is associated with immune system related abnormalities.Objectives: We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of neopterin levels in the early diagnosis of RSA.Methods: Eighty RSA patients and forty-three healthy controls were included in the study. The neopterin concentrations were determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. For the statistical analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson correlation test were used the; p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Serum mean neopterin levels were 16.47±0.095 nmol/L in RSA group and 6.14±0.041 nmol/L in control group, respectively. Compared to the control group, a statistically significant increase (p=0.0183) in the serum neopterin levels of the patients was observed. There was a negative correlation between serum neopterin level and age in both the control (R=0.0774, p=0.6236) and RSA groups (R=0.1415, p=0.2089). However, this correlation was not statistically significant (p>0.05).Conclusions: With overstimulation of interferon-γ (INF-γ) during pregnancy, the production of neopterin increases by monocytes/macrophages. The measurement of neopterin levels in the serum contributes to the early diagnosis of pregnancy losses.