ABSTRACT
Background: Human leukocyte antigen-E [HLA-E]is a non-classical major histocompatibility complex [MHC] class I antigens which expressed on extra villous cytotrophoblast, which interacts with NKG2A, is an inhibitory receptor on natural killer [NK] cells and leading to down regulation of immune response in the maternal-fetal interface and provides maternal immune tolerance of the fetus
Objective: This study was designated to investigate the gene frequencies of E0101 and E0103 in HLA-E gene in Iranian women with recurrent spontaneous abortion [RSA]
Materials and Methods: Amplification Refractory Mutation System [ARMS-PCR] technique was carried out to detect polymorphism in exon 3 of the HLA-E gene in women with RSA and controls [n=200]. Differences between groups were analyzed by SPSS19 software using X[2] test
Results: There was no significant difference in the allele frequencies of the HLA-E polymorphism between RSA and fertile controls but HLA-E 0101/0103 heterozygous genotype was found to be significantly higher in RSA group [p=0.006, OR=1.73], so this genotype might confer susceptibility to RSA
Conclusion: Our results suggest that HLA-E 0101/0103 heterozygous genotype leads to increase of RSA risk. It seems that by genotyping of HLA-E polymorphism, we can predict the risk of RSA in infertile women