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Review
. 2014;5(3-4):103-5.
doi: 10.1080/19381956.2015.1017241. Epub 2015 Mar 16.

Microchimerism in women with recurrent miscarriage

Hilary S Gammill  1   2 , Mary D Stephenson  3   4 , Tessa M Aydelotte  1 , J Lee Nelson  1   5
Affiliations
Review

Microchimerism in women with recurrent miscarriage

Hilary S Gammill et al. Chimerism. 2014.

Abstract

Miscarriage is the most common pregnancy complication, and recurrent miscarriage (3 or more consecutive pregnancy losses) affects 1-5% of couples. Maternal-fetal exchange and the persistence of exchanged material as microchimerism appears to be disrupted in complicated pregnancies. We recently conducted a longitudinal cohort study of microchimerism in women with recurrent miscarriage. Our initial data raise multiple questions that require further investigation. Here, we review our data from this recent study and provide additional information regarding microchimerism in the granulocyte cell layer. This area of investigation offers a unique window into early reproductive events, and future related studies have the potential to identify novel therapeutic approaches and insights into human evolution.

Keywords: microchimerism; pregnancy; recurrent miscarriage; reproduction.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Microchimerism detection in PBMC and GL in preconception and longitudinal samples (during and after pregnancy) according to pregnancy outcome. Results are summarized for all samples from different timepoints with the number of individual probands indicated in brackets (probands often contributed more than one blood sample from different timepoints). While our primary focus was MP microchimerism, limited results for fetal microchimerism are also included; because fetal tissue was rarely obtained after miscarriage, only 2 pregnancies from one proband were tested in this category.
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Erratum for

  • Addendum to: Gammill HS, Stephenson MD, Aydelotte TM, Nelson JL. Microchimerism in recurrent miscarriage. Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 2014 Nov; 11(6):589–94.

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