Anti-β2 glycoprotein I antibodies and pregnancy outcome in antiphospholipid syndrome

The relation between pregnancy outcome and single- or double-positivity of anticardiolipin (aCL) and β2 glycoprotein I (aβ2GPI) in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) has yet to be clearly documented. In this article, a total of 191 lupus anticoagulant-negative pregnant women with primary APS were retrospectively divided into three groups: aCL(+) /aβ2GPI(-) ; aCL(+) /aβ2GPI(+) ; aCL(-) /aβ2GPI(+) . All women had received medical therapy consisting of prednisone (10-15 mg/day), low-dose aspirin (50 mg/day), and low molecular weight heparin (40 mg/day). The miscarriage rate in the double-positive group was significantly higher than that in the aCL(+) /aβ2GPI(-) group (46.2% vs. 22.1%, p < 0.05); the miscarriage rate in the aCL(-) /aβ2GPI(+) group (36.4%) was not significantly different from the rates of the other two groups (p > 0.05). Thus, double-positivity may be a risk factor for pregnancy loss and aβ2GPI antibody may be a better prognostic marker than aCL antibody for pregnancy outcome.