Targeted sequencing analysis of ACVR2A gene identifies novel risk variants associated with preeclampsia

J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2019 Sep;32(17):2790-2796. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2018.1449204. Epub 2018 Mar 21.

Abstract

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is the most common complication of pregnancy that remains to be a major cause of maternal and fetal mortality. Prediction and early diagnosis of PE would allow for timely initiation of preventive therapy. According to recent studies of ACVR2A gene polymorphism is associated with PE, but it is still unclear whether these findings reflect specific pathogenetic mechanisms of this disease. Methods: We performed targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) sequencing of ACVR2A gene by means of Ion Torrent Personal Genome machine (PGM) Sequencer. A genetic analysis of patients with PE and control group was performed. Bioinformatics analysis using Polyphen2 (Boston, MA), SIFT (La Jolla, CA), and SnpSift software were used. To select genetic markers in PE patients two additive models and score analysis were applied. Results: Based on the score analysis, we detected two substitutions (rs145399059 and rs17692648) and one insertion insAA at position 148642724 that were associated with PE in our cohorts. We also detected a variant rs17742573 that can be considered as protective against preeclampsia. Conclusions: Our data suggest that some variants in ACVR2A gene are associated with PE. But more studies are required to reveal the role of ACVR2A gene in the pathogenesis of this disease during pregnancy.

Keywords: ACVR2A; NGS; Polymorphism; SNP; mutations; pre-eclampsia; pregnancy.

MeSH terms

  • Activin Receptors, Type II / blood
  • Activin Receptors, Type II / genetics*
  • Adult
  • Biomarkers
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • Genetic Markers
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Pre-Eclampsia / diagnosis
  • Pre-Eclampsia / genetics*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Outcome

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Genetic Markers
  • Activin Receptors, Type II
  • activin receptor type II-A