Association of ERAP2 gene variants with risk of pre-eclampsia among Iranian women

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the association between ERAP2 rs2549782 and rs17408150 polymorphisms and pre-eclampsia among Iranian women.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study comparing 319 women with pre-eclampsia and 291 normotensive pregnant Iranian women between January and August 2016. Pre-eclampsia was diagnosed by the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy's criteria. Demographic data were collected by oral interview. Genotyping was done by allele-specific PCR. Data were analyzed using SPSS v. 16.

Results: The frequency of the rs2549782TT genotype was 31.0% and 27.5% among cases and controls, respectively (P=0.006). There was no difference in the frequency of the T allele between groups (P>0.05). Regarding the rs17408150 polymorphism, a high portion of women with pre-eclampsia was homozygous for the AA genotype (P<0.001). The frequency of the A allele was 32.5% and 25.05% among cases and controls, respectively (P=0.004). The combined haplotype of the rs2549782A and rs17408150G alleles was associated with increased risk of pre-eclampsia (P=0.031).

Conclusion: ERAP2 gene polymorphisms were associated with the risk of pre-eclampsia in an Iranian population. The results provide further evidence of the role of ERAP2 in the pathophysiology of this disease.

Keywords: ERAP2 gene; Haplotype analysis; Iranian population; Polymorphism; Pre-eclampsia; Risk factors.