Immunogenetics of pregnancy: role of a 14-bp deletion in the maternal HLA-G gene in primiparous pre-eclamptic Brazilian women.
The etiology and pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia (PE) involve a combination of maternal-fetal genetic and immunologic factors. The immunologic maladaptation theory of PE predicts that the maternal immune system does not tolerate the semi-allogeneic fetus. Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is expressed in some types of immune cells as well as in the fetal-maternal interface by trophoblasts, playing an immunoregulatory role. Here we have evaluated a 14-bp deletion polymorphism in the 3'-untranslated region of exon 8 of HLA-G gene in pregnant PE women and controls. HLA-G genotypes in both control and PE women were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The healthy pregnant and PE women had similar genotype frequencies (p = 0.789). This was similarly observed when PE women were subgrouped accordingly to severity of disease (p = 0.646). However, the primiparous PE women presented a tendency toward higher frequency of the 14-bp deletion allele (0.442) compared with the primiparous healthy women (0.286), p = 0.09. Our data suggest that the maternal 14-bp deletion of HLA-G is not associated with the risk for PE but that it could affect the development of PE in primiparous women.
Immunogenetics Laboratory, Department of Genetics, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Priscila
P
Vianna
Caroline Abrão
CA
Dalmáz
Tiago Degani
TD
Veit
Citânia
C
Tedoldi
Israel
I
Roisenberg
José Artur Bogo
JA
Chies
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007125:Immunogenetics; D010298:Parity; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D017384:Sequence Deletion
D006680:HLA Antigens; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I