Immunoglobulin G subclasses of anti-human platelet antigen 1a in maternal sera: relation to the severity of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia

The monoclonal antibody immobilization of platelet antigen (MAIPA) technique was employed to detect and semiquantitatively assess total IgG anti-HPA-1a and its subclasses in sera of mothers who gave birth to severely thrombocytopenic (< 50 x 10(9) platelets/L)(n = 14) or mildly thrombocytopenic/unaffected (> 50 x 10(9) platelets/L)(n = 13) neonates. There was no statistically significant difference between the IgG anti-HPA-1a subclass composition of the 2 groups of sera. The majority of sera (26/27, 96%) showed IgG1 + IgG3 while 17/27 (63%) had all 4 subclasses of the antibody. No significant differences between the severely thrombocytopenic and mildly thrombocytopenic/unaffected groups were detected in the levels of IgG, IgG1, IgG2 or IgG4 of the antibody. However, the values of IgG3 anti-HPA-1a were significantly higher in the severely thrombocytopenic than in the mildly thrombocytopenic/unaffected group of sera with only little overlap (median 2.94 vs. 1.68, range 1.36-9.71 vs. 1.50-2.84, respectively; p < 0.01). The results suggest that maternal IgG3 anti-HPA-1a has predictive value for severe thrombocytopenia of the neonate. However, a prospective study of IgG HPA-1a subclasses in a greater number of maternal sera at different times of pregnancy is needed to test if IgG3 anti-HPA-1a is predictive of the degree of fetal/neonatal thrombocytopenia.