by
Roberto Romero;
Digna R. Velez Edwards;
Juan Pedro Kusanovic;
Sonia S. Hassan;
Shali Mazaki-Tovi;
Edi Vaisbuch;
Chong Jai Kim;
Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa;
Bradley Pearce;
Lara A. Friel;
Jacquelaine Bartlett;
Madan Kumar Anant;
Benjamin A. Salisbury;
Gerald F. Vovis;
Min Seob Lee;
Ricardo Gomez;
Ernesto Behnke;
Enrique Oyarzun;
Gerard Tromp;
Scott M. Williams;
Ramkumar Menon
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether maternal/fetal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes are associated with spontaneous preterm labor/delivery. Study Design: A genetic association study was conducted in 223 mothers and 179 fetuses (preterm labor with intact membranes who delivered <37 weeks of gestation [preterm birth (PTB)]), and 599 mothers and 628 fetuses (normal pregnancy); 190 candidate genes and 775 SNPs were studied. Single locus/haplotype association analyses were performed; the false discovery rate was used to correct for multiple testing. Results: The strongest single locus associations with PTB were interleukin-6 receptor 1 (fetus; P = .000148) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (mother; P = .000197), which remained significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Global haplotype analysis indicated an association between a fetal DNA variant in insulin-like growth factor F2 and maternal alpha 3 type IV collagen isoform 1 (global, P = .004 and .007, respectively). Conclusion: An SNP involved in controlling fetal inflammation (interleukin-6 receptor 1) and DNA variants in maternal genes encoding for proteins involved in extracellular matrix metabolism approximately doubled the risk of PTB.