Angiogenesis and oxidative stress-related gene variants in recurrent pregnancy loss

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) affects ~3–5% of couples attempting to conceive and in around 50% of cases the aetiology remains unknown. Adequate vascularisation and placental circulation are indispensable for the development of a normal pregnancy. Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the nitric oxide (NO) systems play important roles in reproductive physiology, participating in several steps including implantation and apoptosis of trophoblast cells. In this study we evaluated genetic polymorphisms in the inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2), PTGS2 and VEGFA genes as susceptibility factors for RPL. A case-control study was conducted in 149 women having two or more miscarriages and 208 controls. Allele and genotype distributions of the polymorphisms studied in the two groups were not statistically different. However, the dominant model showed that the presence of variant T (TT/GT) of rs2779249 (−1290G > T) of NOS2 was significantly associated with RPL (OR = 1.58, CI 95% = 1.03–2.44; P = 0.037). The increased risk remained significant when adjusted for number of pregnancies, alcohol consumption and ethnicity (OR = 1.92, CI95% = 1.18–3.11; P = 0.008). These results suggest that the variant genotypes of the functional polymorphism rs2779249 in the NOS2 promoter are a potential risk for RPL, possibly due to oxidative stress mechanisms.