Evaluation of protein fractions in the serum as potential determinants of risk of the recurrent miscarriages

Background: According to the World Health Organization, recurrent miscarriage is defined as the loss of 3 ormore consecutive early pregnancies, affecting 0.5% to 3% of pregnant women. According to clinical practice,it is recommended to perform a diagnostic investigation after two consecutive miscarriages in order toidentify the reason for miscarriages. Despite numerous investigations, around 40–60% of recurrent pregnancylosses is still idiopathic. In the conducted research, the utility of the determination of serum proteinfractions in the diagnosis of recurrent miscarriage was evaluated. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 20 women (aged 36.12 ± 3.53) with recurrent miscarriageof undetermined aetiology. The control group comprised 20 non-pregnant women (aged 35.7 ± 3.28) whohad given birth to healthy children at least twice. Blood serum collected by venipuncture was examined.Serum protein fractions were separated by electrophoresis in the SDS PAGE buffer system using a MiniPROTEAN 3 cell device. BioRad SDS PAGE Molecular Weight Standards covering a mass range of 6.5–200kDa were used as a reference. Results: Electrophoretic separation revealed 71 protein fractions of 10 to 240 kDa. It was observed that proteinfractions with molecular weights of 27, 36, 53 and 172 kDa were present more frequently in serum fromwomen in the control group. Protein fractions of 28, 132 and 188 kDa predominated among patients in theexperimental group. This research has demonstrated that the number of 53 and 172 kDa protein fractionsdecreased with the number of miscarriages. Conclusions: It is suggested that individual protein fractions may increase the risk of a miscarriage