Prothrombin G20210A mutation: is it associated with pre-eclampsia?

Abstract

Objective: A strong independent association between the prothrombin G20210A gene mutation and pre-eclampsia has been reported in an Italian population. This result was not confirmed in a subsequent study in a Dutch population. The objective of this study was to further test the hypothesis that the prothrombin G20210A mutation is associated with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia.

Methods: Seventeen eclamptics and 67 pre-eclamptics were recruited from 34 multicase Australian/New Zealand families. An additional 105 unrelated pre-eclamptic/eclamptic women and 119 parous women were recruited as controls.

Results: The overall incidence for the prothrombin G20210A gene mutation in the pre-eclamptic group was 3.6% (95% CI 1.2-8.2%) which was not significantly different from the control group 2.5% (95% CI 0.5-7.2%) (p = 0.73, OR 1.44, 95% CI 0.34-6.17).

Conclusion: This study provides little evidence of a significant relationship between the prothrombin G20210A gene mutation and pre-eclampsia. Based on our results, we do not recommend testing for the prothrombin G20210A mutation in the routine investigation of women with pre-eclampsia.