BACKGROUND<\/p>\n
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its kinase insert domain receptor (KDR<\/I>) play an important role in angiogenesis, and their gene expression patterns also suggest a close relationship with early pregnancy. However, limited information is available regarding the role of the VEGF<\/I> system, especially its KDR<\/I> receptor, in recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). This study was conducted to investigate a genetic association between VEGF<\/I> and its receptor gene (KDR<\/I>) with idiopathic RPL.<\/p>\n
METHODS<\/p>\n
In this case–control study, 115 women who had experienced at least two consecutive spontaneous miscarriages (n<\/I>= 62 women with two miscarriages, n<\/I>= 53 with three or more) and 170 controls were included. A total of 14 tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of VEGF<\/I> and KDR<\/I> were selected from the HapMap Web site and three functional SNPs [rs1570360<\/I> (–1154G\/A<\/I>) of VEGF<\/I>; rs2305948<\/I> (V297I<\/I>) and rs1870377<\/I> (Q472H<\/I>) of the KDR<\/I> gene] were genotyped using primer extension analysis. We further used multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis to evaluate gene–gene interactions.<\/p>\n
RESULTS<\/p>\n
One tag SNP (rs6838752<\/I>) and the functional SNP (Q472H<\/I>) of the KDR<\/I> gene were in complete linkage and showed significant differences between patients and controls (P<\/I>< 0.05). The frequencies of haplotypes of VEGF<\/I> (A-T-G haplotype) and KDR<\/I> (A-C-A-T-G haplotype) showed significant differences in patients versus controls (P<\/I>< 0.05). All comparisons with controls remained significant when the subgroup of women with three or more miscarriages was analyzed.<\/p>\n
CONCLUSIONS<\/p>\n
VEGF<\/I> and its receptor gene (KDR<\/I>) are associated with idiopathic RPL. The VEGF\/KDR<\/I> system jointly contributes to recurrent miscarriage in Taiwanese Han women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BACKGROUND Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) play an important role in angiogenesis, and their gene expression patterns also suggest a close relationship with early pregnancy. However, limited information is available regarding the role … Continue reading