Objective: To detect the relationship between endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphism and preeclampsia.
Methods: The study included the samples from 62 subjects (15 preeclampsia pregnant women with their infants and 16 normal pregnant women with their infants). Screening for the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphism, the 27-bp repeat in intron 4 (eNOS4), was carried out by analysis of polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing.
Results: The frequency of the b allele (420 bp) in the 62 samples was 91.93%, the frequency of the a allele (393 bp) was 6.45%, and that of the c allele (447 bp) was 1.61%. The frequencies of eNOS 4 b/b, eNOS 4 a/b and eNOS4 c/b were 83.83%, 12.90% and 3.27%, respectively. There was no significant difference of eNOS4 polymorphism between the preeclampsia pregnant women and the normal pregnant women, between their infants, and between the preeclampsia pregnant women and their infants.
Conclusion: The eNOS 4 polymorphism may be not associated with preeclampsia. Further studies are needed to confirm the eNOS gene polymorphism with preeclampsia.