Candidate Gene Polymorphisms And The Risk For Pregnancy Related Venous Thrombosis

Venous thrombosis (VT) is one of the leading causes of maternal death in the western world, but the genetic causes of pregnancy-related VT are insufficiently understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between common genetic variations in candidate genes and pregnancy-related VT. We undertook a hospital based casecontrol study of women with VT during pregnancy or puerperium; controls were women giving birth without having VT. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected in 49 pre-specified candidate genes involved in coagulation, inflammation, and hormonal metabolism in 313 cases and 353 controls. We found new associations between SNPs and total pregnancy-related VT in the genes encoding coagulation factors V and VIII, and p-selectin. Additional new associations between SNPs and antenatal VT were found in the genes encoding the epidermal growth factor receptor, the pregnane X receptor, and protein S. Of 21 SNPs previously associated with thrombotic disease, rs2289252 in F11 and rs3917643 in F3 were associated with pregnancy-related VT, while rs4524 in F5 was associated with antenatal VT.