Fetal HLA-G alleles and their effect on miscarriage

Abstract

Background. Immunosuppression at the feto-maternal interface is crucial for a successful pregnancy outcome. Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) seems to be a major contributor to fetal tolerance. The HLA-G expression is seen in cytotrophoblasts and in maternal blood. Fetal HLA-G acts on decidual antigen-presenting cells (APCs), natural killers (NKs) and T cells. Recent findings revealed that defects in placentation and their consequences are associated with maternal HLA-G variants and their expression levels.

Objectives. The objective of this article is to investigate the relationship between fetal HLA-G alleles and miscarriage, which has not been investigated to date.

Material and methods. The present study includes 204 recurrent miscarriage (RM) cases who were admitted to our clinic between 2012 and 2016. Twenty-eight miscarriage products without maternal cell contamination and any known pathology were analyzed by HLA-G typing. In addition, 3' untranslated region (UTR) 14-base pair (bp) insertion/deletion polymorphism was also investigated by Sanger sequencing.

Results. For our population, the most frequent HLA-G type was G*01:01, both in the study group (30.3%) and in the control group (47%). The study revealed that the G*01:04 allele was significantly associated with miscarriage (p = 0.007). The 3' UTR 14bp deletion was more frequent in the miscarriage group, but there was no significant correlation.

Conclusions. HLA-G alleles seem to be related with miscarriage and should be considered in RM cases.