ANTICARDIOLIPIN ANTIBODIES AND INFERTILTY: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE
Authors:
OGUNSOLA Oluseyi
Publication Type: Journal article
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Abstract
It is estimated that 10- 20 % of couples attending fertility clinics have unexplained infertility. The investigations of causes of infertility and fetal loss are beginning to deal increasingly with immunological factors, and in particular, with the autoimmunity. The aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) in Lagos. Our investigation included 600 patients of the prenatal diagnosis therapy center, College of Medicine of the University of Lagos. 413 (68.8%) were females and 187 (31.2%) were males. Anticardiolipin antibodies were analyzed in sera using a commercial ELISA test with cardiolipin alone as antigen. Anticardiolipin antibody concentrations were determined using a standard curve based on a series with known concentrations of antibodies and expressed in GPL Units. 568 (94.7%) tested positive for ACA while only 32 (5.3 %) tested negative. 179 (95.7%) out of 187 males and 389 (94.2%) out of 413 females tested positive for ACA. There was however no statistically significant (p > 0.05) relationship between age of respondents and the ACA IgG assay levels; and between sex and ACA IgG assay levels. In conclusion, there was a high prevalence of anticardiolipin antibodies in both sexes which may negatively affect conception and pregnancy outcome.