Determination of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and interleukin 2 (IL 2) in women with idiopathic recurrent miscarriage.

Some recurrent miscarriages may be due to a host versus graft reaction. Elevated Interleukin 2 (IL2) levels have been found during pregnancy and elevated TNF alpha levels during acute rejection crises of allotransplantats and so we determined IL2- and TNF alpha levels in women with recurrent miscarriages. Samples were taken for serum TNF alpha and IL2 radioimmunoassays (IRE Medgenix, Belgium) from 28 healthy non-pregnant women and in 49 women with at least 3 miscarriages between the 6th and 14th week of pregnancy, 38 women having their first or second miscarriage and 42 pregnant women with no complications. In women with recurrent miscarriage an increase in TNF alpha (P less than 0.05) and a decrease in IL2 serum levels (P less than 0.05) was found compared to women with normal pregnancies. These results support the concept that disturbances of immune tolerance of the fetus may account for some cases of recurrent miscarriage.