The ‑2549 insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region of VEGF is associated with the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion

Abstract

Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is a common health problem affecting women of reproductive age. Altered expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (<i>VEGF</i>) has been associated with spontaneous abortion. The present case-control study aimed to evaluate the impact of the 18-bp insertion/deletion (ins/del) polymorphism (rs35569394) in the promoter region of the <i>VEGF</i> gene on idiopathic RSA. Genomic DNA from 93 patients with RSA and 93 healthy fertile women of southeastern Iran was isolated using the salting-out method. Genotyping of the rs35569394 variant was performed by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The findings indicated that the <i>VEGF</i> 18-bp ins/del variant significantly increased the risk of RSA under codominant (ins/ins vs. del/del; OR=2.85, 95% CI=1.31-6.22, P=0.019), dominant (del/ins+ins/ins vs. del/del; OR=2.19, 95% CI=1.20-4.01, P=0.015) and allelic (ins vs. del; OR=1.90, 95% CI=1.25-2.88, P=0.003) inheritance models. In summary, the findings propose a significant association between the <i>VEGF</i> 18-bp ins/del polymorphism and risk of RSA in a sample of the southeast Iranian population. Further studies on larger sample sizes and different ethnicities are required to validate the present findings.