title: Association of maternal KIR and fetal HLA-C genes with the risk of preeclampsia in the Chinese Han population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study is to investigate the distribution of inhibitory and activating killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and the combination of KIR/human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-C in women with preeclampsia in the Chinese Han population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 271 patients and 295 controls were enrolled in our study. The inhibitory/activating KIR and HLA-C genes were detected using the PCR-SSP (polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers) method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our result showed that decreased numbers of individual activating KIR genes (2DS2, 2DS3, and 2DS5) were observed in women with preeclampsia. Furthermore, the gene frequency of total activating KIRs was significantly lower in patients compared with that of the controls (P = 0.03). The frequency of the KIR2DL1 gene was increased in women with preeclampsia when a homozygous HLA-C2 allele appeared in the fetus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that a KIR genetic variation might influence the risk of preeclampsia. The lack of activating KIRs could possibly lower uterine natural killer (uNK) cell activation, thereby contributing to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Moreover, the imbalance of the inhibitory or activating signals at the maternal-fetal interface seems to play a regulatory role in the occurrence of preeclampsia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Maternal and Child Health Medical Institute, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Maternal and Child Health Medical Institute, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China. Electronic address: cuixianwei198615@126.com.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Nanjing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China. Electronic address: Longw_njfy@163.com.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D044466:Asian People; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D015236:HLA-C Antigens / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D054502:Histocompatibility, Maternal-Fetal; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D054340:Receptors, KIR / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D054342:Receptors, KIR2DL1 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015236:HLA-C Antigens; C093100:KIR2DL1 protein, human; C433932:KIR2DS2 protein, human; C541358:KIR2DS3 protein, human; C531595:KIR2DS5 protein, human; D054340:Receptors, KIR; D054342:Receptors, KIR2DL1
keywords: HLA-C; KIR; PCR-SSP; Preeclampsia