Polymorphisms of the Apoptotic genes TP53 and MDM2 and Preeclampsia Development

Abstract

Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystemic disorder responsible by high levels of maternal/fetal mortality and morbidity. Although its exact physiology is not well established, apoptosis has a pivotal role in PE pathophysiology, and an elevated rate of cell death is related to PE development. Here it was performed a case-control study, where the frequencies of two polymorphisms in major genes of the apoptosis pathway (TP53 rs1042522 and MDM2 rs2279744) were genotyped in 119 women suffering PE and 99 without preeclampsia. The genotyping was performed by allelic discrimination using a Taqman SNP genotype analyzer. Considering clinical features, the mean of birth weight was lower among children delivered by PE women (p=0.004). Also, a higher number of children from PE women was classified as having Low Birth Weight (p<0.001). PE women had Cesarian delivery more frequently than controls (p=0.004) and also presented overweight and hypertension (p<0.001). Despite the clinical features, the distribution of the genotypic variants was similar between case and controls, suggesting that the genetic variants evaluated did not directly influence the risk of PE among our subjects.