Background and aims: Maternal primary and recurrent infection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) may be transmitted to the fetus during pregnancy and may have complications such as death or growth, along with the development retardation of the fetus and infant. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against CMV in you...

Anti-glycan antibodies are an abundant subpopulation of serum antibodies with critical functions in many immune processes. Changes in the levels of these antibodies can occur with the onset of disease, exposure to pathogens, or vaccination. As a result, there has been significant interest in exploiting anti-glycan antibodies as biomarkers for many diseases. Serum contains a mixture of anti-glyc...

Maternal chlamydial antibodies were determined in cord sera of 41 infants who developed neonatal chlamydial conjunctivitis and compared with the antibody profile of infants who had been exposed to Chlamydia trachomatis at birth by their isolation positive mothers but in whom conjunctivitis did not develop. No protective effect could be attributed to maternal antibodies transferred to the infant...

Anti-HLA antibodies reportedly exist in the one third of pregnant women. But few occurrences of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) caused by anti-HLA antibodies have been reported. Here a male baby, who was admitted for low birth weight with Down syndrome (DS), was suffered from thrombocytopenia without transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD). Positive reactions of HLA-specific ant...

BACKGROUND The etiology of autism is complex, and may involve the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Recent studies suggested an association between maternal immune response and this disorder. METHODS Forty-nine women with autistic children (cases) were studied in comparison with 73 women with normal children (controls). After interviewing for sociodemographic and clinical...

Placentae were examined from 120 women whose pregnancy and delivery was normal, from 264 women whose pregnancy or delivery was complicated, and from 98 women who were Rh-negative without antibodies and 35 women Rh-negative with antibodies. The presence of Kline's haemorrhages, intervillous thrombi, infarcts, and retroplacental haemorrhages was positively correlated with the presence of foetal c...

BACKGROUND Immunoglobulin A (IgA) in maternal milk may protect Gambian infants from early Helicobacter pylori colonization. This study sought evidence that this protection could be due to specific IgA antibodies. METHODS Sixty-five infants were screened from 12 weeks of age with [13C]-urea breath tests. Antibodies in maternal milk were measured to determine total IgA content and to detect spe...

Despite the wide availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) prophylaxis during pregnancy, >150,000 infants become infected through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV worldwide. It is likely that additional intervention strategies, such as a maternal HIV vaccine, will be required to eliminate pediatric HIV infections. A deeper understanding of the fine specificity and function of mater...