Mannan binding lectin concentration and risk of miscarriage

Recurrent miscarriage is associated with low concentrations of mannan-bindi ng lectin (MBL), but it is not known below which value relative MBL deficie ncy becomes a significant risk factor. The sera of 397 patients (male and f emale) suffering from recurrent miscarriage and 376 controls were assayed f or MBL and the data analysed. It was found that the lower the cut-off value , the greater the statistical strength of the association. It was concluded that only MBL concentrations less than or equal to 0.1 mu g/ml were clinic ally significant in this context. A corollary of this conclusion is that ge notyping for point mutations in the structural gene for MBL would be a much less sensitive means of identifying couples at risk of experiencing recurr ent miscarriage.