Background: Association of fibrin abnormalities with pre-eclampsia prompted this study to examine whether polymorphisms in the plasminogen activator inhibitor Type 1 and platelet glycoprotein IIIa genes constitute risk factors for this condition.
Methods: A group of 151 Black Zulu-speaking pre-eclamptics was examined for 4G/5G plasminogen activator inhibitor Type 1 and PlA1/A2 platelet glycoprotein IIIa polymorphic alleles using standard techniques. Results were compared with those found in 217 ethnically matched healthy normotensive pregnant women who had normal full-term gestations.
Results: Pre-eclamptic patients had a slightly higher frequency of the 4G plasminogen activator inhibitor Type 1 allele (15%) compared with the controls (12%); this was reflected also in the heterozygote frequency (28% and 22%) for the patients and the controls, respectively. These differences were not significant. Only 2% of this population was found to be homozygous for the 4G allele. No differences were observed in the platelet glycoprotein IIIa polymorphism genotype and allele frequency distribution between the patients and the controls.
Conclusions: Neither the 4G allele of the plasminogen activator inhibitor Type 1 nor the PlA2 allele of the platelet glycoprotein IIIa have any significant role as risk factors in the patho-etiology of pre-eclampsia in Black South Africans, although these genes cannot yet be excluded as contributory to this disorder. It is possible that the underlying causes of pre-eclampsia may vary between different ethnic populations.