Autoimmune Disease Predispositions and Pregnancy

Many autoimmune diseases can raise a patient’s chances for adverse pregnancy outcomes, which is why expectant mothers with antiphospholipid syndrome, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders are considered high-risk pregnancies. However, many people remain undiagnosed for autoimmune conditions.

Autoimmune diseases are thought to arise from a combination of a person’s genetics and environment. Although being genetically predisposed to autoimmunity might raise a person’s chances for developing an autoimmune disease, it is not a guarantee.

Physiology

Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genes play an integral role in activating the immune response. Some HLA alleles change the features of a person’s HLAs to make them more likely to inappropriately trigger the immune response and develop an autoimmune condition. An autoimmune disease predisposition test looks at different alleles of the patient’s HLA genes which might predispose the patient to autoimmune issues than can interfere with a healthy pregnancy.

Our analysis indicates HLA alleles and haplotypes that have been shown to predispose to certain autoimmune conditions. The presence of one or more predisposing HLA alleles/haplotypes is not diagnostic of the existence of an autoimmune condition. However, when combined with other analysis in the IRMA report, the presence of specific alleles/haplotypes can provide valuable insight into the state of the patient’s immune system that could be contributing to failure to initiate or maintain pregnancy. HLA alleles and haplotypes that contribute to autoimmunity may also directly lead to an inability to appropriately establish maternal immune tolerance to an embryo or fetus.