ABSTRACT
Novel approaches to preterm births are underway building upon our prior discoveries and probing into unknown discovery pathways. The recent findings showed a high affinity of MMP-9 in serum and its polymorphisms for preterm birth. This study, which is a hospital-based case– control study, aims to investigate the association of MMP-1, MMP-8 and MMP-9 polymorphisms, and levels of MMP-9 in preterm birth. Increased level of MMP-9 was reported in cases as compared to control. The significant association of MMP-9 (-1562) CT (P = 0.001; OR = 1.44 (CI = 0.97–2.14)) and TT genotype (P = 0.05; OR = 2.6 (CI = 1.46–4.69)) were reported in preterm birth. Our findings suggest thattheMMP-9 plays an important role in contributing preterm labour and this can be used as a diagnostic tool during pregnancy
ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the association of TLR4 (rs4986790 and rs4986791) and TNF-α(rs1800629) genes polymorphisms and TLR4mRNA levels with preterm birth. Methods:Hospital-based case-control study on women of Caucasoid morphological subtype ethnicityin Northern India. Inclusion criteria for cases: women aged between 18-40 years with pretermbirth (<37 weeks gestation), and for controls: women who delivered a term neonateconsecutive to an enrolled case. Three polymorphisms TLR4 (Asp299 Gly, Thr399 Ill) andTNF-á (-308G/A) and TLR4 mRNA levels were compared between cases and controls.Results: From 2012-2015, 559 cases and 559 controls were recruited. TLR4 mRNA levelswere found to be higher (P<0.001) in cases [(0.7 (0.04)] than in controls [(0.5 (0.04)]. Noassociation was found between TLR4 Asp299 Gly, TLR4 Thr399 Ill and TNF-α (-308G/A)with preterm birth. Conclusion: Increased TLR4 mRNA levels seem to be associated withpreterm birth, and can be investigated further as a potential biomarker for identifying womenat risk