Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify the impact of the selected HLA-G gene polymorphisms in the 5'URR region on the risk to develop pre-eclampsia.
Background: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a serious multisystem disorder that affects women during pregnancy. Despite many research studies, the pathology of PE is not fully understood. Human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) belongs to the molecules that induce immune tolerance at the fetal-maternal interface. HLA-G expression was found to be impaired in the women suffering from PE suggesting its involvement in the development of PE.
Methods: 116 women with pre-eclampsia and 130 women with normotensive pregnancy were included in the study. The 16 gene polymorphisms in the HLA-G 5'URR region (promoter) affecting HLA-G expression were typed by direct sequencing.
Results: The -201AA genotypes in recessive model were significantly more frequent in women with pre-eclampsia than in the controls (p = 0.047). Furthermore, the analysis of HLA-G 5'URR variants with clinical findings of PE showed a significant association of the -533delA-/+ genotype with a higher mean level of diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.02).
Conclusion: Our results suggest a genetic association of selected HLA-G 5'URR variants with a risk of developing pre-eclampsia and possible contribution of HLA-G to disease pathology (Tab. 4, Ref. 51).
Keywords: HLA-G; gene polymorphism; pre-eclampsia; sequencing diagnostics..