Fetal and neonatal immune thrombocytopenia (FNIT; aka FNAIT) is a condition in which fetuses and newborns have reduced numbers of blood cells known as platelets. Platelets have a key role in blood clotting; if the reduction in platelet number in a fetus or newborn is dramatic, it can lead to bleeding within the skull, which can result in brain damage or even death. A team of researchers led by Heyu Ni, at the University of Toronto, Toronto, has now identified in mice a non-classical form of FNIT that does not cause uncontrolled bleeding within the skull of the fetus/newborn. Rather, the condition is characterized by excessive platelet activation and blood clot formation in the placenta, resulting in miscarriage. Importantly, the team identified two treatments that prevented this nonclassical form of FNIT. Ni and colleagues therefore suggest that the nonclassical FNIT that they observed in mice should be considered as an underlying cause of miscarriage and habitual abortion in women. Alvin Schmaier, at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, concurs with this suggestion in his accompany commentary and discusses potential ways to treat those women determined to have the condition.
TITLE: The maternal immune response to fetal platelet GPIb-alpha causes frequent miscarriage in mice that can be prevented by intravenous IgG and anti-FcRn therapies
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Heyu Ni
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Phone: 416.847.1738; Fax: 416.864.5826; E-mail: nih@smh.ca .
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/57850?key=39fd0dc4f3e3dc6e4f76
ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY
TITLE: Are maternal antiplatelet antibodies a prothrombotic condition leading to miscarriage?
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Alvin H. Schmaier
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Phone: 216.368.1172; Fax: 216.368.3014; E-mail: schmaier@case.edu .
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/60749?key=acca5014a81a66688ea4
Journal of Clinical Investigation