Successful pregnancy requires a significant modification of the mother’s immune system to prevent it from ‘rejecting’ the embryo. Whilst the embryo shares some of the mother’s genes, it also has its own which means it is seen as a ‘foreign body’ by the mother’s immune system.
Immune therapy has been tried over many years to improve IVF and miscarriage treatment success rates. But the problem is that immune therapy is simply not needed for the vast majority of women trying to have a baby. Immune therapy can have significant side effects for both mother and baby, and can be expensive.
Dr Sacks has spent the last 18 years researching, publishing and lecturing in reproductive immunology, and has pioneered the development of natural killer (NK) cell tests in Australia. NK cells are the main immune cells in the womb at the time of implantation, and may be a marker for immune implantation problems.
The NK cell tests can be done by blood test or womb biopsy, and about 15-25% of women with repeated IVF failure or repeated miscarriage have high activated cell levels. Those women are the ones that most benefit from immune therapy, and trials are currently underway to try to prove this.
Dr Sacks has developed the ‘Bondi protocol’ immune therapy (prednisolone and clexane) which is affordable, easily accessible, and effective in women with high NK cell levels.
Read about Natural Killer Cell Testing at the IVFAustralia website.