Progesterone receptor gene polymorphism and recurrent spontaneous abortion

Abstract

To assess a possible association between polymorphism of the progesterone receptor gene (PROGINS) and recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). In this case-control study, 85 women with at least three previous spontaneous abortions without an identifiable cause (RSA Group) and 157 women with at least two previous term pregnancies without pathologies and no previous miscarriage (Control Group) were selected. An amount of 10 mL of peripheral blood was collected by venipuncture and genomic DNA was extracted by the DTAB/CTAB method, followed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) under specific conditions for this polymorphism and by amplification by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. The bands were visualized with an ultraviolet light transilluminator and the gels were photographed. Differences in the PROGINS genotype and allele frequencies between groups were analyzed by the χ² test, with the level of significance set at p<0.05. The Odds Ratio (OR) was also used, with 95% confidence intervals 95%CI. PROGINS genotypic frequencies were 72.3% T1T1 and 27.7% T1T2 for the RSA group and 76.4% T1T1, 22.3% T1T2 and 1.3% T2T2 for the control group. There were no differences between groups when the genotype and allele frequencies were analyzed: respectively p=0.48 (OR: 0.8) and p=0.65 (OR: 0.9). Our results suggest that PROGINS polymorphism is not associated with RSA.