RESUMO
BACKGROUND: HLA-E products, class Ib human leukocyte antigens, act in the immunology of human reproduction as modulators of the maternal immune system during pregnancy. AIMS: To evaluate HLA-E role in the establishment of a viable pregnancy. MATERIALS & METHODS: HLA-E was genotyped by sequence-based typing (SBT) and analyzed for specific polymorphisms, comparing couples who underwent assisted reproduction treatment (ART) and fertile control couples. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in HLA-E allele and genotype distributions between ART couples and control couples. The allele HLA-E*01:03 was observed in 63.2% of ART men and in 35.1% of fertile men (P = 0.0032). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that HLA-E allelic variants may play a role in the modulation of immune responses in the context of the inability of natural conception and establishment of a viable pregnancy.
Assuntos
Fertilidade/imunologia , Fertilização/imunologia , Frequência do Gene , Antígenos de Histocompatibilidade Classe I/imunologia , Infertilidade Feminina/imunologia , Infertilidade Masculina/imunologia , Adulto , Alelos , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Implantação do Embrião/imunologia , Feminino , Fertilização in vitro , Expressão Gênica , Antígenos de Histocompatibilidade Classe I/genética , Humanos , Infertilidade Feminina/genética , Infertilidade Feminina/patologia , Infertilidade Feminina/terapia , Infertilidade Masculina/genética , Infertilidade Masculina/patologia , Infertilidade Masculina/terapia , Masculino , Antígenos HLA-ERESUMO
PROBLEM: HLA-G expression is related as an immune modulator of fetal-maternal tolerance, and its levels was correlated with pregnancy outcome. In a case-control study, we investigate the association between the genetic variability of the HLA-G gene and serum levels of soluble HLA-G in cases of embryo implantation failure. METHOD OF STUDY: Forty couples with at least two unsuccessful fresh embryo transfers (implantation failure; IF) and 83 fertile couples with at least two successful pregnancies was genotyped by sequencing-based typing. HLA-G alleles were defined by nucleotide sequence variations at exon 2, 3, and 4, and the quantification of soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) was performed by ELISA. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the HLA-G allelic distributions between IF couples and the control couples. The HLA-G*01:03:01 allele was increased in the IF couples. There were no significant differences in the serum levels of sHLA-G in the IF and control groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the distribution of HLA-G products may play a significant role in the modulation of maternal-fetal immune response.