Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Feto-maternal Medicine,
Medical University of Vienna General Hospital, Austria | Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Landeskrankenhaus Klagenfurt, Austria
Note: [] Corresponding author: Maximilian Schmid, MD, Department of
Obstetrics and Feto-maternal Medicine, Medical University of Vienna General
Hospital, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. Tel.: +43 1 40400
2822; Fax: +43 1 40400 2995; E-mail: maximilian.schmid@meduniwien.ac.at
Abstract: Our aim was to investigate whether a genetic variation in the
corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 gene might be associated with
preterm birth. In this case-control study we evaluated the G/A polymorphism
(rs2267717) in intron 2 of the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 gene
in one hundred women with preterm birth and one hundred healthy women with at
least one uncomplicated full term pregnancy and no history of preterm birth. No
significant correlation was found between the presence of the investigated
polymorphism and preterm birth (p=0.9, odds ratio 0.9
[Confidence interval 0.5–1.7]). A dose dependent association of the
investigated polymorphism, in women with preterm birth, with gestational age at
delivery (p=0.003) and birth weight was observed (p=0.0001). However, no association between IUGR
(n=10) with either one of the investigated genotypes
(p=0.3) was found. Stratified analysis within case group
{(i.e. PPROM vs. non-PPROM)} revealed no significant difference in genotype
distribution (p=0.6). In conclusion, the investigated
polymorphism does not increase the risk for preterm birth overall but might
modulate the length of pregnancy in a dose dependent fashion in a series of Caucasian women.
