Studies on the relationship of CTLA-4 +49A/G gene with Recurrent Miscarriage in Northwest of Iran

Background: Immunological factors are important in pregnancy loss because of the interaction between mother and fetus. T-regulatory cells as the component of humeral immune response play important role in the fetu-maternal interface. One of the regulatory mechanisms for these cells is mediated by antigen independent co -stimulatory signals and interaction of Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (B7/CTLA-4) is one of these signals. The CTLA-4 which down regulates the activation and proliferation of T-cells occurs in a competitive interaction with CD28 to bind to B7. The aim of this study was to find out the relationship of CTLA-4 +49A/G gene with Recurrent Miscarriage in a group of Iranian women. Methods: In the present study, 60 women with the history of two or more pregnancy loss were selected and considered as the case group. A group of women (n=60) with at least two live births without any previous history of pregnancy loss and autoimmune diseases were taken as control group. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood using standard protocols. The CTLA-4 +49 A/G were detected using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms assay. Results: The results showed that CTLA-4 +49 A/G polymorphisms were not significantly different in women with the history of two or more pregnancy loss compared to normal individuals. The frequency of G-allele polymorphism was 39.16% and 35.83% in patients and controls respectively. Conclusions: The data presented may suggest that the CTLA-4 is not associated with recurrent miscarriage in an Iranian population in Northwest region.