Ovarian autoimmunity: Greater frequency of autoantibodies in premature menopause and unexplained infertility than in the general population

The objective of this study was to: (1) assess the relative prevalence of o varian, thyroid, nuclear, and cardiolipin antibodies associated with premat ure menopause and unexplained infertility and (2) compare ovarian and thyro id antibodies in premature menopause, unexplained infertility, and the gene ral population. Autoantibodies were evaluated in women with premature menop ause (n = 30), unexplained infertility with (n = 38) or without (n = 15) pr ior gonadotropin-induced ovulation, and normal cycling controls (n = 12) an d in a population of women obtained from a blood bank (n = 53). Antibodies to ovary (OVAB), thyroid (THYAB; thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin), car diolipin, and eight nuclear antigens were assessed by enzyme immunoassay. O rgan-specific antibodies (ovary and thyroid) were present with significantl y greater frequency than non-organ-specific antibodies (nuclear and cardiol ipin) in premature menopause and unexplained infertility (60%;5 (50/83) vs 16% (13/83) respectively; P < 0.0001). OVAB (53%, 44/83) were significantly more frequent than THYAB (30%, 25/83) in premature menopause and unexplain ed infertility (P = 0.0030). THYAB did not differ among all groups (P = 0.7 8). In premature menopause and treated or untreated unexplained infertility OVAB frequencies were 53, 61, and 33%, respectively, and were significantl y more frequent than in the population (17%) (P = 0.0001). In unexplained i nfertility, individuals with no prior gonadotropin-induced ovulation had a lower frequency of OVAB than treated individuals (P = 0.07). The frequency distribution of optical density values for OVAB was significantly higher fo r premature menopause and unexplained infertility than for population or no rmal cycling women (P < 0.0001). Thus, only ovarian antibodies were signifi cantly more frequent than other antibody markers of autoimmunity in prematu re menopause and unexplained infertility. (C) 1999 Academic Press.