Source: Praxis  |  Posted 9 years ago

Presence of alleles human leukocyte antigen-G*0104, DRB1*07/06, human cytomegalo virus sequences and fetal inheritance of maternal G*0104 should be considered as conditioning factors for development of pre-eclampsia.

These are the findings of a study by doctors from the Escuela de Bioanalisis, Central University of Venezuela and the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Centro de Medicina Experimental, both in Caracas, Venezuela.

Dr M Carreiras and colleagues sought to clarify the possible influence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mother-child genotypes and human cytomegalo virus (HCMV) on pre-eclampsia.

The researchers tested 104 DNA samples from mothers with the condition and mothers with a normal history of pregnancies and their neonates.

These samples were tested by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probes (PCR-SSOP) for HLA-A, -G, -DRB1, -DQA1, and -DQB1 alleles.

The HCMV sequences were analysed via a PCR-SSOP method and four primers.

There was a significant increase of DRB1*07 among neonates and of DRB1*07 and/or DRB1*06 among pre-eclamptic mothers.

The risk ratio rose dramatically when HCMV sequences were detected in pre-eclamptic mothers carrying those phenotypes. Furthermore, fetal inheritance of a maternal HLA-G*0104 increased risk for the appearance of the disease.