HLA Genes Have Role in Preterm Delivery

The transmission of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes play a significant role in the risk of preterm delivery, according to a new study published in the September 2004 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The study involved a total of 234 subjects from 78 families with early preterm deliveries (35 weeks or less) and 60 subjects from 20 families with full-term births. Cheek cells were collected from first-born preterm cases and their parents to determine HLA-B and DRB1 gene type and the transmission of parental alleles to the offspring. The aim of the study was to determine whether parentally shared HLA alleles are more likely than expected to be transmitted to preterm children.

Compared to offspring who did not receive any parentally shared HLA alleles, offspring who received the alleles from both parents had more than a five-fold increased risk of preterm delivery. Offspring who received the HLA allele only from the mother also had increased risk of preterm delivery, while offspring who received the HLA allele only from the father did not have increased risk. This is the first time that parental HLA makeup has been linked to preterm delivery.

"There is increasing evidence that successful pregnancy requires healthy immunological interaction between parents and between mother and fetus,” said lead author De-Kun Li, M.D., Ph.D., senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, CA, USA). "HLA alleles control immune response. Abnormal immune response due to HLA mismatch among mother, father, and the fetus could lead to unsuccessful pregnancy.”

Dr. De-Kun suggests a way may be found to detect those fetuses at high risk of preterm delivery by testing parental HLA types. Monitoring those high-risk pregnancies could help prevent preterm delivery.




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