Association of neonatal thrombocytopenia and maternal anti-HLA antibodies.

In order to evaluate the influence of maternal anti-HLA antibody on neonatal thrombocytopenia, clinical features and maternal anti-HLA antibody of three groups of infants (19 thrombocytopenic and low birth weight, 27 nonthrombocytopenic and low birth weight, and 80 healthy full-term) were investigated. The incidence of positive maternal anti-HLA antibodies in the three groups was 73.7%, 29.6% and 27.5%, respectively. Thrombocytopenia in small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants was closely related to the presence of maternal anti-HLA antibodies. Among 20 SGA infants (11 thrombocytopenic, 9 non-thrombocytopenic), anti-HLA antibody was detected in 10 mothers (90.9%) of thrombocytopenic SGA infants, while it was positive in only one mother (11.1%) of nonthrombocytopenic SGA infants. Investigation of the SGA infants revealed that in those whose mothers were sensitized to HLA antigen, not only the platelet count but also the leukocyte and lymphocyte counts in the first week of life were significantly lower than in infants whose mothers were not sensitized. The results suggest that the presence of maternal anti-HLA antibody is a cause of neonatal thrombocytopenia especially in SGA infants.