Immune profiling of ART-conceived children in Kazakhstan: a case-control study

A total of 120 children conceived by ART and 132 NC children under the age of five were included in our study. We observed that compared with NC group, ART children had lower IgA and IgG levels (<i>p</i> < 0.001), absolute lymphocytosis, high levels of active T-lymphocytes (<i>p</i> = 0.001), and pathological T-helper levels (<i>p</i> = 0.004). Therefore, the clinical presentation of respiratory diseases was lower in ART group. Children born after frozen embryo transfers showed significantly higher levels of T-cytotoxic and active T-lymphocytes compared to children born after fresh embryo transfers (<i>p</i> = 0.007 and <i>p</i> = 0.020, respectively). We utilized ordinal logistic regression to control for confounding variables such as multiple pregnancy, cesarean section, premature birth, and breastfeeding. Despite this, the significant impact of ART on immunogram parameters persisted, indicating the independent and influential nature of ART or other unaccounted factors.