Table 2.
Serum autoantibodies in female infertility and infertility-related diseases.
| Patients (N) | Autoantibodies | Methods | Study design | Authors (reference no.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POF | ||||
|
| ||||
| POF (45) | AOA 47%* Antioocyte Aab 47%* AOA or anti-oocyte Aab 69%* Anti-LH 6.7% (also AOA positive) AThA 18%* Antiplacental Aab 22%* |
ELISA | CC | Luborsky et al. 1990 [30] |
|
| ||||
| POF (45) | AOA 24–60%* | ELISA | CC | Wheatcroft et al. 1994 [68] |
|
| ||||
| POF (48) | Anti-3 beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase Aab 21%* | IB, IF, cDNA screening | CC | Arif et al. 1996 [69] |
|
| ||||
| POF (46) | AOA IgG, IgA or IgM 59%—IgG 74.1%, IgA 33.3%, IgM 29.6%* | ELISA | CC | Fénichel et al. 1997 [29] |
|
| ||||
| (A) POF (14) (B) IVF poor responders (29) (C) IVF good responders (14) |
FSH blocking IgG: (A) 21.4% (B) 6.9% (C) 85%* |
IgG purification, cell culture exposure | CC | Reznik et al. 1998 [70] |
|
| ||||
| POF (30) Unexplained infertility (38) |
AOA and AThA 60%* ANA and ACA 16%* AOA 53%* AThA 30%* |
EIA | CC | Luborsky et al. 1999 [32] |
|
| ||||
| POS positive for AOA (36) | Anti-FSH (anti-V14D) 94.4%* | ELISA, IB, IF, peptide screening | P | Gobert et al. 2001 [71] |
|
| ||||
| POF (15) | AOA 66.6%* Antizona pellucida Aab 53.3%* TMA 33.3% |
IHC | CC | Kelkar et al. 2005 [31] |
|
| ||||
| IVF patients | ||||
|
| ||||
| IVF poor responders with male infertility or TFI (26) | AOA 77%* Anti-FSH 92%* Anti-LH 65%* |
ELISA | CC | Meyer et al. 1990 [72] |
|
| ||||
| IVF failure (80) | AOA 12.5%* | IF | CC | Geva et al. 1999 [62] |
|
| ||||
| IVF failure (17) | 1 out of 6 common Aab IgG 82.3%*: ACA 58.8% LA 47.1% AThA 58.8% ANA 58.8% SMA 11.8% |
ELISA, IF, PDCA | CC | Putowski et al. 2004 [61] |
|
| ||||
| IVF patients (135): (A) PCOS, endometriosis, unexplained infertility (B) TFI or male infertility |
(A) and (B) higher titer of anti-FSH IgG, IgA and IgM* (A) 1 out of 7 common Aab IgG 49%*-ANA 2 preparations, SMA, PCA, ACA, B2-GPI or anti-TPO | ELISA, IF | CC | Haller et al. 2007 [73] |
|
| ||||
| IVF poor responders (16) | Anti-FSH IgA 37.5%* Anti-FSH IgG 31.3%* |
ELISA | CC | Haller et al. 2008 [74] |
|
| ||||
| TFI with IVF failure (156) | AEA IgA* (antialpha enolase) | IB, MS | CC | Sarapik et al. 2010 [43] |
|
| ||||
| TFI (21) | Antichlamydial HSP60 antibody titer* | ELISA, IB, IF | CC | Rodgers et al. 2010 [42] |
|
| ||||
| Non-IVF infertility patients | ||||
|
| ||||
| (A) Unexplained infertility (26) (B) Unexplained abortion (24) |
2 APA, 5 antihistone or 4 antipolynucleotide IgG, IgA or IgM (A 88% and B 70.8%) | ELISA | P | Gleicher et al. 1989 [66] |
|
| ||||
| Pregnancy complications (69): (A) Early pregnancy loss (B) Foetal death (C) Preeclampsia |
AThA 37.7%*: (A) 37.9%* (B) 40.9%* (C) 33.3%* |
ELISA, PDCA, RIA | CC | Mecacci et al. 2000 [11] |
| Infertility (108): Menstrual cycle disturbances Anovulation Luteal phase deficiency Unexplained infertility PCOS Endometriosis |
1 out of 9 common Aab IgG 40.7%* ANA 13.9%* SMA 27.8%* TMA 1.9%* PCA 0.6% B2-GPI 4.4% ACA 5% |
ELISA, IF | CP | Reimand et al. 2001 [25] |
|
| ||||
| Infertility (438): Endometriosis TFI Ovarian dysfunction Male infertility Unexplained infertility |
Anti-TPO 14%: 18% in female infertility* 29% in endometriosis* |
RIA | CC | Poppe and Velkeniers 2002 [60] |
|
| ||||
| (A) Infertility (178)—PCOS, endometriosis (B) Uncomplicated pregnancy (75) |
(A) higher titer of anti-FSH (anti-V14D) IgA* (B) lower titer of anti-FSH (anti-V14D) IgG, IgM* |
ELISA | CC | Haller et al. 2005 [75] |
|
| ||||
| Infertility-related diseases | ||||
|
| ||||
| Endometriosis (13) | AOA, AEA, anti-theca cell Aab, anti-granulosa cell Aab titers* | IF, PHA | CC | Mathur et al. 1982 [50] |
|
| ||||
| Endometriosis (59) | ANA 28.8%, LA 45.5% (inversely related to disease stage) 1 out of 16 antigens IgG 64.5% 1 out of 16 antigens IgM 45.2% |
IF, PDCA | P | Gleicher et al. 1987 [21] |
|
| ||||
| Endometriosis (60) | Anti-α 2HS glycoprotein and antitransferrin titers* | ELISA | CC | Mathur et al. 1999 [49] |
|
| ||||
| PCOS (34) | AOA IgG, IgA or IgM 44%—IgG 27%, IgA 3%, IgM 27%* | ELISA | CC | Fénichel et al. 1999 [19] |
*Statistically significant compared to the reference (P < 0.05), Aab-autoantibodies, ACA-anticardiolipin autoantibodies, AEA-antiendometrial autoantibodies, ANA-antinuclear autoantibodies, AOA-antiovary autoantibodies, APA-antiphospholipid autoantibodies, AThA-anti-thyroid autoantibodies, B2-GPI-anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I autoantibodies, EIA-enzyme immunoassay, ELISA-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, FSH-follicle stimulating hormone, HSP-heat shock protein, IF-immunofluorescence, IB-immunoblot analysis, IHC-immunohistochemistry, IVF in vitro fertilization, LA-lupus anticoagulant, CC-case-control study, CP-cases-population study, LH-luteinizing hormone, MS-mass spectrometry, P-prevalence, PCA-parietal cell autoantibodies, PCOS-polycystic ovary syndrome, PDCA-phospholipid-dependent clotting assay, PHA-passive haemagglutination, POF-premature ovarian failure, RIA-radioimmune assay, SMA-smooth muscle autoantibodies, TFI-tubal factor infertility, TMA-thyroid microsomal autoantibodies, TPO-thyroid peroxidase, V14D-78-93 amino acid immunodominant epitope on FSH.