Immune balance and fertility are inseparable, and our understanding is growing each year. Most women have a relatively balanced immune system that can adapt to pregnancy. However, many of us have hidden immune problems that make conception and maintaining pregnancy more difficult. Testing is costly, difficult to access, or not considered a pri...
Anti-ovarian antibodies (OA) can create an aggressive Th1 autoimmune disorder that attacks and removes healthy eggs and follicles from the ovaries. Low levels of anti-ovarian antibodies are routinely found in women’s blood (around 30% of healthy women have anti-ovarian antibodies in their blood samples), but these women have no problems ...
Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA) is an autoimmune condition with abnormally high levels of antibodies that target the genetic material in cells. These antibodies are quite normal in low concentrations, but in about 5% of the population, they’re elevated. For roughly half of these people, an autoimmune disease gets triggered, which causes the...
Antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) are a significant cause of blood clotting in pregnancy, and clotting disorders are one of the leading causes of miscarriage. Pregnancy makes the blood of all women get thicker, but how much it thickens varies between women and can differ between pregnancies. If blood gets too thick, the bonds between the blood...
Anti-sperm antibodies (ASAb) are a major cause of infertility, and they’re found in 9-36% of infertile couples. They’re caused by an immune response to sperm that can affect one or both partners. i Men tend to have ASASb more than women, and it’s a lot easier for men to get checked for anti-sperm antibodies with an extension to sta...
Cytokines are a group of immune-modulating agents (they alter the body’s immune response) with similar actions to hormones. However, they’re not classed as hormones because they don’t come from discrete glands. A variety of cells (including white blood cells) produce cytokines, and they’re often spread around the body. ...
Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) are small peptide proteins on the surfaces of all cells, and their function is to identify each cell as “self” to the immune system. Foreign cells (germs, viruses or parasites) don’t carry a person’s HLA on their surfaces, and the immune system sees them as “non-self”. The imm...
Leukocyte antibodies (LA) identify non-self leukocytes, and leukocytes are types of white blood cells that circulate in the blood, bone marrow, and lymph systems. These white blood cells are an essential part of the immune system and include the Natural Killer (NK) cells. The LA role is primarily to remove bacteria (or other foreign invaders)...
Natural Killer cells (NK cells) make up about 5-10% of our white blood cells (lymphocytes) and are an essential part of the immune system, keeping us healthy by removing unwanted, damaged or foreign cells. They play a crucial role in stopping infections and removing tumours and are essential for restructuring and enabling growth. NK cell numbe...
