The HLA ‐G 14bp insertion/deletion polymorphism and its association with soluble HLA‐G levels in women with recurrent miscarriages

Abstract Human leucocyte antigen‐G (HLA‐G), a non classical class Ib gene is mainly expressed on extravillous trophoblasts at the fetal‐maternal interface. HLA‐G molecule is considered to play an important role in maternal immune suppression during pregnancy. 14bp insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs66554220) in exon 8 of the HLA‐G gene influences HLA‐G mRNA stability and isoform splicing patterns. In the present study, 202 RM women with two or more than two consecutive miscarriages, their 202 partners and 204 fertile control women with at least one live birth and no miscarriages were analyzed for 14bp insertion/deletion polymorphism. Soluble HLA‐G (sHLA‐G) levels were also determined and compared between randomly selected 111 RM women and 111 control women using QAYEE‐Bio ELISA kits. Student’s t‐test and χ2 test were used to depict the statistical differences. The results revealed no significant differences for 14bp allele and genotype frequencies between the study groups. However, our study showed a significant difference (p=0.0107) for sHLA‐G levels in RM women and control women. Further, a significant difference (p=0.0135) for sHLA‐G levels in relation to +/‐14bp heterozygous genotype was seen between the two groups. The 14bp allele sharing between the partners did not show any significant association with the number of miscarriages in RM couples. The association of 14bp polymorphism and recurrent miscarriages was not significant in our study.
Source: Tissue Antigens - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research