Abstract

Objective(s): Many lines of evidence suggest that reduced production of nitric oxide (NO) due to single nucleotide polymorphisms in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene may affect the implantation and maintenance of pregnancy. Accordingly, our objective was to investigate whether the eNOS polymorphisms (-786 T>C, intron 4 b/a VNTR and 894 G>T) and haplotypes may be associated with increased susceptibility to recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Study design: A total of 130 women with a history of two or more unexplained consecutive first trimester miscarriages and 110 ethnically matched women with at least two normal pregnancies and no history of pregnancy loss were included in the study as cases and controls, respectively. To identify the genotypes, we used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods In addition, an in silico analysis was conducted to predict the possible effects of the eNOS 894 G>T polymorphism on the structure and function of eNOS mRNA and protein using prediction servers. Results: Our findings revealed that the prevalence of eNOS -786 T>C polymorphism, eNOS -786C allele and TC + CC genotype in cases were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (p < 0.05). Also, the combination genotypes -786TT/4b4a and -786TT/894GG were significantly associated with reduced risk of RPL. We also found that the C-4a-G haplotype of the eNOS gene studied polymorphisms was significantly associated with a predisposition to RPL (odds ratio, 3.219; 95 confidence interval, 1.649-6.282; p = 0.0003). The in silico analysis showed that the eNOS 894 G>T polymorphism couldn't affects eNOS mRNA and protein significantly. Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence to support the hypothesis that eNOS -786 T>C polymorphism and the -786C-4a-894G haplotype are associated with the high risk of RPL. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.