Background: Many studies have assessed the relationship between gene polymorphisms in multidrug resistance protein 3 (MDR3) and the risk of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP); however, there are many conflicting narratives.
Objectives: This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association between MDR3 gene polymorphisms and ICP.
Material and methods: A multi-database search was conducted using Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and Chinese Biomedical Literature (CBM) databases. Eleven eligible studies focusing on 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MDR3 gene were selected for analysis. A fixedor random-effects model was utilized for allelic, dominant, recessive, and superdominant genes.
Results: The pooled results indicated a statistically significant association between MDR3 polymorphism rs2109505 and an increased risk of ICP in both the general population and the Caucasian population. No statistically significant associations were found between MDR3 polymorphism rs2109505 and ICP in Italian or Asian populations for the 4 genetic models. The MDR3 polymorphism rs1202283 was associated with susceptibility to ICP in both the general and Italian populations.
Conclusion: The MDR3 rs2109505 and rs1202283 polymorphisms are associated with ICP susceptibility: however, they displayed no correlation with an increased risk of ICP.
Keywords: MDR3 gene polymorphism; SNP; intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy; meta-analysis; susceptibility.