Immunity to cytomegalovirus in women with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion.

Humoral and cellular immunity to cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been assessed in women suffering unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA). A significantly lower prevalence of serum anti-CMV antibodies was observed for RSA women compared with either their male partners or age-matched female controls, unlike for serum antibodies to Herpes simplex virus. In addition, there was a markedly impaired lymphocyte proliferative response to CMV for CMV-sero-positive RSA women compared with CMV-seropositive controls. These results indicate that women with unexplained RSA have difficulty in responding to CMV, and are of significance when considering leukocyte transfusion immunotherapy.