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#69
MATERNAL KIR REPERTOIRE IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH RECURRENT SPONTANEOUS ABORTION.
Maria Gerbase-DeLima, MD,PhD, Campbell S. Witt, PhD, Silvia Daher, MD,PhD, Jodie P. Goodridge, BSc and Frank T. Christiansen, MD,FRACP,FRCPA. Sao Paulo SP, Brazil, Federal University of Sao Paulo, 04024-003, Immunogenetics Division; Perth WE Australia, Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Dept Clinical Immunology; Perth WE Australia, Australia, West Australia Institute for Medical Research and Crawley Australia, University of Western Australia, School of Surgery and Pathology.

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In view of evidence suggesting an immunological cause of recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA) and the large number of maternal natural killer (NK) cells present in the pregnant uterus, we investigated the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) repertoire and the frequency of the KIR2DL4 genotypes in women with RSA. Fifty-two Brazilian white women with RSA were included in the study. The presence or absence of genes for each of the KIR receptors was determined by PCR-SSP. For the KIR2DL4 genotyping, a stretch of DNA including exon 6, intron 6 and exon 7 was amplified by PCR and the genotype of the PCR products was determined by capillary electrophoresis. Differences between patients and healthy ethnical-matched controls were assessed by chi-square testing. The KIR repertoire did not differ between RSA patients and controls in terms of: 1) the number of inhibitory receptors, 2) the number of activating receptors, 3) the ratio of inhibitory to activating receptors. The frequency of KIR2DL4 transmembrane genotypes differed significantly between RSA patients and controls (p = 0.03). However, although homozygosity for a membrane bound receptor was more frequent in patients (25%) than controls (10%), other genotypes that would produce the same phenotype were not more frequent in patients than controls. In conclusion, the data provide little evidence that KIR polymorphism plays a role in predisposition to RSA.