title: Analysis of the potential role of Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in genetic predisposition to spontaneous abortion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Up to 20% of pregnancies end in the first trimester by spontaneous abortion, but a significant number remains unexplained. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of variants within the gene for apolipoprotein E (APOE) in the genetic determination of spontaneous abortions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected DNA from 410 tissue samples of spontaneous abortions, and APOE was genotyped by PCR-RFLP method. The frequencies were compared with a population sample of adults (N = 2606) and with a positive control (1060 women with at least two children).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The frequencies of the APOE genotypes in abortions (APOE2E2 + E3E2 = 0.132; APOE3E3 = 0.661; APOE3E4 + E4E4 = 0.195; APOE4E2 = 0.012) did not significantly differ (P = 0.604) from the frequencies in analyzed adult population study (APOE2E2 + E3E2 = 0.132; APOE3E3 = 0.686; APOE3E4 + E4E4 = 0.169; APOE4E2 = 0.014) or from the positive control (APOE2E2 + E3E2 = 0.133; APOE3E3 = 0.691; APOE3E4 + E4E4 =0.166; APOE4E2 = 0.010; P = 0.592).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that APOE may not be associated with spontaneous abortions in Caucasians.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic. rynji@seznam.cz
authors.forename: Jitka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rynekrova
authors.forename: Dita
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kasparova
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Adamkova
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fait
authors.forename: Jaroslav A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hubacek
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000235:genetics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult