Erythrocyte acid phosphatase polymorphism: relationship with birth weight, duration of gestation, and congenital abnormalities.

No statistically significant relationships were observed between the red blood cell acid phosphatase polymorphism (ACP-1) and birth weight, duration of gestation and proportion of preterm infants in a large series of newborn infants (greater than 8000) in Cardiff. These results are contrasted with those of a similar, but smaller, series studied by Bottini's group in Rome, where some apparently significant effects were detected. The Cardiff survey did show a significant relationship between ACP-1 genotypes and the presence or absence of congenital abnormalities, but since this was largely attributable to an excess of ACP-1 CA individuals with abnormalities, a category with a small expected value, further data are required to confirm the validity of this observation.