The Role of CD16(+), CD56(+), NK (CD16(+)/CD56(+)) and B CD20(+) Cells in the Outcome of Pregnancy in Women with Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion

Objectives: Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion (RSA) is the most common complication of pregnancy. It is considered as one of the most important issues of reproduction in the world. RSA is defined as having three or more miscarriages in the first trimester of pregnancy. Increase in peripheral blood lymphocytes may be associated with abortion; therefore, the study was aimed to investigate and compare the peripheral blood CD16(+), CD56(+), NK(CD16(+)/CD56(+)) and B CD20(+) cells populations in diagnosis and on pregnancy outcome in women with abortion. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 25 non-pregnant women with at least 3 abortions without obvious reason and 25 non-pregnant women with a living child without history of previous abortion participated. Using monoclonal antibodies anti (CD16, CD56 and CD20) and flow cytometry method, the percentage of cells with these markers was determined. Data analysis was performed by with SPSS 15 software and T-test. Results: CD16(+), CD56(+) and NK (CD16(+)/CD56(+)) cells significantly increased in women with RSA compared with control group (P= 0.05) but there were no significant differences in the percentage of B CD20(+) cells between the experimental and control groups (P> 0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, increased percentage of NK cells may be considered as a risk factor for RSA but involvement and the role of B CD20(+) lymphocytes in RSA cannot be confirmed; however, in regard to important role of B and NK cell in the management of the immune responses, more studies are required to understand the behavior of these cells in the different stages of pregnancy more efficiently.