Combined detection of anticardiolipin and anti-β2-glycoprotein 1 antibodies may predict pregnancy outcome.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a typical non-inflammatory autoimmune disease that is common in young women. It is characterized by the presence of the anti-cardiolipin antibody (ACA) and anti-β2 glycoprotein 1 (anti-β2-GP1) antibody and is associated with a high risk of arteriovenous thrombosis. We measured the expression of ACA and anti-β2-GP1 antibodies in the serum of pregnant women early in their pregnancy, and analyzed the pregnancy outcome of the primigravidas who were positive for both the antibodies, so as to evaluate the efficacy of the combined determination in predicting pregnancy outcome. A total of 102 pregnant women who visited the Hebei General Hospital from January 2014 to December 2017 were enrolled in the study. The serum levels of ACA and anti-β2-GP1 antibodies were determined in all the enrolled pregnant women using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method and the correlation between positive ACA/anti-β2-GP1 antibody and the adverse pregnancy outcomes was analyzed. Meanwhile, the difference in the pregnancy outcomes between patients who were positive for ACA only, for anti-β2-GP1 only and for both of the two antibodies was also investigated. The incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes of pregnant women who were positive for both the ACA and the anti-β2-GP1 antibodies (48.87%) was higher than that of those positive for ACA only (28.67%) and those positive for anti-β2-GP1 only (36.66%). The positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), sensitivity and specificity of the combined determination of the two predictors was 81.75%, 95.84%, 88.37% and 95.92%, respectively. The combined determination of ACA and anti-β2-GP1 antibodies early in pregnancy may predict the occurrence of pregnancy outcome, with superiority over either of the two predictors alone. AJTR