Functional miR29a polymorphism is associated with protection against recurrent spontaneous abortion: A case-control study and bioinformatics analysis

Abstract

Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is a multifactorial disorder, and multiple genetic and environmental factors affect its pathogenesis. Recently, microRNA polymorphisms have been significantly associated with RSA incidence. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of miR29a rs157907A/G variant on RSA risk. A total of 338 subjects were enrolled in the study. Genotyping was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. Bioinformatics databases were used for the analysis of the gene-miRNA interaction network. We found that miR29a rs157907A/G polymorphism was associated with strong protection against RSA, under codominant AG (OR = 0.13), dominant AG + GG vs. AA (OR = 0.20), overdominant AG vs. AA+GG (OR = 0.14), and allelic (OR = 0.31) contrasted models. Besides, the association between this variant and RSA did not differ between various ages (<35 and ≥35) and Body Mass Index (<30 and ≥30). In-silico analysis revealed that miR-29a targets several genes involved in cell cycles, angiogenic signaling, and apoptosis of trophoblastic cells. Our findings suggest that miR29a rs157907A/G polymorphism might reduce the risk of RSA in an Iranian population. Replication studies are needed to reveal the precise role of miR29a in the development of placental disorders.