Objective: We wished to determine whether genetic variability in the gene encoding endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) modifies individual susceptibility to the development of preeclampsia.
Methods: The study involved 132 preeclamptic and 113 healthy control pregnant women who were genotyped for the Glu298Asp polymorphism in the eNOS gene. Chi(2) analysis was used to assess genotype and allele frequency differences between preeclamptic women and controls.
Results: A statistically similar allelic distribution of eNOS Glu298Asp polymorphism was observed in the two groups, with the frequency of the variant G allele being 74.6% in the preeclampsia group and 67.7% in the control group (P = .091; odds ratio 1.40, 95% confidence interval 0.95, 2.01). Accordingly, the genotype distribution of the NOS polymorphism in the preeclamptic and control groups was found to be similar (P = .233).
Conclusion: These genotype data in subjects from eastern Finland were not suggestive of an important contribution of the Glu298Asp polymorphism in the NOS gene on preeclampsia across populations. However, the observed association between the G allele and disease risk, of borderline significance, may imply that other polymorphism(s) in the gene may modify disease risk.
Copyright 2003 by the Society for Gynecologic Investigation