Association of 14 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism of the HLA-G gene in father with severe preeclampsia in Chinese.

Preeclampsia (PE), especially severe PE including early (before 34 weeks' gestation) and late (after 34 weeks' gestation) onset PE, is one of the leading causes of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. It is well known that abnormal human leukocyte antigen subtype G (HLA-G) expression may contribute to PE. In this study, we investigated allelic and genotypic frequencies of the 14 bp deletion/insert polymorphism in the 3(')-untranslated region (3(')-UTR) of the HLA-G gene in cases (120 pairs of mother-offspring, 82 couples, and 67 pairs of father-offspring with severe PE) and controls (158 pairs of mother-offspring, 87 couples, and 75 pairs of father-offspring with normal pregnancy). We found that the frequencies of the +14 bp/+14 bp HLA-G genotype of the offspring were significantly higher in the severe and early onset severe PE cases compared with controls, and the frequencies of the -14 bp/-14 bp HLA-G genotype of the offspring were significantly lower in the early onset severe PE cases compared with controls. The frequency of combined -14 bp/+14 bp mother/+14 bp/+14 bp offspring genotypes was significantly higher in the severe and early onset severe PE cases compared with controls, and the frequency of combined -14 bp/+14 bp mother/-14 bp/-14 bp offspring genotypes was significantly lower in the early onset severe PE cases compared with late onset severe PE cases. The frequency of combined -14 bp/-14 bp father/-14 bp/-14 bp offspring genotypes was significantly lower in the early onset severe PE cases compared with late onset severe PE cases and controls. In overview, the HLA-G 14 bp deletion/insert polymorphism is associated with severe PE in father-offspring, and its distribution is different between the early and late onset severe PE.