Immunologic aspects of term pregnancy toxemia. A study of immunoglobins and complement.

IgA, IgG, and IgM were measured by the single radial immunodiffusion method in umbilical cord and maternal sera in toxemia patients and in normal term pregnant cases. Complement (C' 3) levels were determined only in maternal sera. Quantitation of IgA, IgG, and IgM was performed in concentrated serial urine samples from three eclamptic and three normal control patients. Results show that there are lower IgG and IgM levels in the sera of mothers with toxemia of pregnancy; however, paradoxically higher IgM levels were detected in cord sera from their newborn infants without evidence of placental leakage or increased neonatal infection. The finding of the low IgG and IgM levels appears to be due in part to immunoglobin loss into the urine. The unchanged complement levels in toxemia, in this study, are not suggestive of an active immunologic process, but the high IgM in the newborn infants of toxemic mothers is unexplained and may represent active immunologic disease. Clearly, investigations of tissue binding and the formation of immunoglobin complexes should be carried out to better explain these abnormal findings.