Mutational analysis of the inhibin alpha gene in preeclamptic women.
BACKGROUND
Preeclampsia (PE) is a disorder that occurs in at least 5% of pregnancies and affects both the mother and the unborn baby. A dramatic increase of maternal serum inhibin A concentration in the second and third trimester of pregnancy is a common feature of PE and inhibin A measurement may add significant prognostic information for predicting PE in pregnant women.


METHODS
We evaluated the presence and prevalence of gene polymorphisms for inhibin alpha subunit (INHalpha) in patients affected by PE (no.=50; study group), and in the general population (control group composed of 103 women and 42 men).


METHODS
DNA extraction, single strand conformation polymorphism analysis, DNA sequencing, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and Fisher's exact test were used.


RESULTS
A 769G-->A transition was found in INHalpha1, but not in INHalpha2 or INHalpha3 fragment. This variant was found in 10/145 normal controls (7,6%), and in 1/50 preeclamptic patients (2%), without significant difference between the two groups (p=0.29).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of INHalpha gene variants is not increased in PE. Due to its frequency, the 769G-->A transition may be considered a polymorphism present in the general Italian population.
Ciarmela
P
P
Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Florio
P
P
Battistini
S
S
Grasso
D
D
Amato
T
T
Boschi
S
S
Marozio
L
L
Benedetto
C
C
Petraglia
F
F
D000328:Adult; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007265:Inhibins / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000235:genetics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D017931:DNA Primers; C094377:inhibin-alpha subunit; D007265:Inhibins; D004247:DNA