Objectives: It is possible that altered control of aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) expression or translation may be responsible for hypertension. Hypertension is one of the major components of preeclampsia. We present here a study investigating the association between the CYP11B2 gene polymorphism in the promoter region at the position of -344 and preeclampsia.
Study design: We analyzed a group of Turkish women for preeclampsia (n=143), eclampsia (n=36), and the HELLP syndrome (n=55) and compared them with controls (n=147). Genotypes for CYP11B2 were determined by polymerase chain reaction followed by digestion with BsuRI restriction enzyme.
Results: The -344T/T, -344C/T, and -344C/C genotypes were found at comparable frequencies among the study groups, between the study and control groups, and between the study groups combined and the control group (p>0.05). We combined the genotypes of TC and CC (polymorphic) and compared them with the TT (wild-type) genotype. There was no significant difference in the frequency of the TC plus CC genotypes among the study groups, between the study and control groups, and between the study groups combined and the control group (p>0.05). There was no association of the CYP11B2 polymorphism among the preeclampsia, eclampsia, and HELLP groups and controls.
Conclusions: The CYP11B2 gene polymorphism is not directly associated with preeclampsia, eclampsia, and the HELLP syndrome in women with these conditions. Therefore, this polymorphism may not be a risk factor for these disorders, at least not in the Turkish population.