Association study of vascular endothelial growth factor polymorphisms with the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion

Objective: To investigate the association of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) polymorphisms (-2578C>A, -1154G>A, -634G>C, 936C>T) with idiopathic recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in Koreans.

Design: Prospective case-control study.

Setting: University-based hospital.

Patient(s): Two hundred and fifteen patients with a history of two or more unexplained consecutive pregnancy losses and 113 healthy controls with at least one live birth and no history of pregnancy loss.

Intervention(s): None.

Main outcome measure(s): Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses were performed for the -2578C>A and 936C>T genotypes. Real-time PCR was also used to analyze the -1154G>A and -634G>C genotypes.

Result(s): The GA (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.774; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.512-5.092) genotype of the VEGF -1154G>A polymorphism was significantly different between women with idiopathic RSA and controls. The difference in overall (GA + AA) frequency was also marginally significant between the controls and patients with idiopathic RSA (AOR, 2.006; 95% CI, 1.158-3.473). The differences in frequencies of the A-A-G-T and C-A-G-T haplotypes of the VEGF polymorphisms (-2578C>A, -1154G>A, -634G>C, 936C>T) were marginally significant between the patient and control groups.

Conclusion(s): This study suggests that VEGF polymorphisms and haplotypes are a genetic determinant for the risk of idiopathic RSA in Korean women.