Mutational Analysis of the Inhibin Alpha Gene in Preeclamptic Women

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a disorder that occurs in at least 5% of pregnancies and affects both the mother and the unborn baby. A dramatic increase of maternal serum inhibin A concentration in the second and third trimester of pregnancy is a common feature of PE and inhibin A measurement may add significant prognostic information for predicting PE in pregnant women.

Design: We evaluated the presence and prevalence of gene polymorphisms for inhibin alpha subunit (INHalpha) in patients affected by PE (no.=50; study group), and in the general population (control group composed of 103 women and 42 men).

Methods: DNA extraction, single strand conformation polymorphism analysis, DNA sequencing, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and Fisher's exact test were used.

Results: A 769G-->A transition was found in INHalpha1, but not in INHalpha2 or INHalpha3 fragment. This variant was found in 10/145 normal controls (7,6%), and in 1/50 preeclamptic patients (2%), without significant difference between the two groups (p=0.29).

Conclusions: The prevalence of INHalpha gene variants is not increased in PE. Due to its frequency, the 769G-->A transition may be considered a polymorphism present in the general Italian population.