The complement-activating capacity of maternal IgG antibodies to blood group A in paired mother/child serum samples.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate whether IgG antibodies to blood group A bind or activate complement after crossing the placenta.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

IgG anti-A concentrations as well as C1-q-binding and the capacity of anti-A to form the C5b-9 membrane attack complex were measured in sera of 61 mother/child pairs. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantitate anti-A or anti-B in maternal and neonatal serum samples.

RESULTS

The concentrations of IgG anti-A in ABO-identical and ABO-compatible children born to type O or B mothers correlated significantly with maternal concentrations (p < 0.05), whereas type A or AB children had strikingly diminished concentrations of IgG anti-A. The IgG anti-A concentrations were analyzed in two different groups: first, 44 mother/child pairs with mothers and children group O or B (group I), and second, 17 pairs with mothers group O or B and children group A or AB (group II). In group I, identical or compatible pairs with regard to IgG anti-A, a significant correlation was found by Spearman's rank analysis, whereas the same analysis revealed no significant correlation in group II. The capacity of anti-A to activate complement was also more marked in newborns who were ABO-identical or ABO-compatible with their mothers, and this capacity was virtually absent in cord blood samples from incompatible babies.

CONCLUSIONS

Tests for complement-dependent or complement-independent ABO blood group antibodies must be interpreted in the light of the blood group of the child.