Immune complexes in the sera and amniotic fluids of human pregnancy

The polyethylene-glicol (P.E.G.) precipitation assay was used to examine the sera of 91 pregnant women, 30 with normal pregnancies, 16 with EPH-gestosis, 20 with pregnancy complicated by diabetes and 25 with case histories of recurrent abortions, in order to find evidence of eventual circulating immune complexes (C.I.C.). We also examined amniotic fluid from 30 normal pregnant women and from 6 pregnant women with diabetes. Several sera and all amniotic fluids were also examined by rheumatoid factor (RF) - inhibition test. C.I.C. were not discovered in the normal pregnant women neither in their sera nor in their amniotic fluids, while they were found in the following cases: in 8 patients with EPH-gestosis (50%), in 8 with diabetes (40%) and in 3 with anamnesis positive for recurrent abortions (12%). The 6 amniotic fluid samples from women with diabetes were all negative. We were only able to examine 11 of the 19 positive cases from 4 days to 5 months after delivery and C.I.C. were absent in the sera of all the patients.