Scientists Identify Gene Involved In Recurrent Miscarriages.(nitric oxide synthase gene)

2001 AUG 23 - (NewsRx Network) -- Researchers in Austria have identified a gene that may be a contributory cause of recurrent unexplained miscarriages.

Women with a particular variation in a gene that controls the way that blood vessels function have a 60% greater risk of recurrent miscarriage, Prof. Clemens Tempfer and colleagues from the University of Vienna School of Medicine reported in the July 27, 2001, issue of Human Reproduction.

Nearly a fifth of all pregnancies end in miscarriages, but up to 2% of women suffer recurrent miscarriages, i.e., three or more consecutive pregnancy losses before 20 weeks. The research team has found evidence that a variation in a gene, dubbed NOS, which is known to be involved in synthesizing nitric oxide, could be at least partly to blame.

They compared a group of 105 women who had all suffered recurrent spontaneous miscarriages with a carefully matched control group of 9l postmenopausal women who had never had a miscarriage and who had given birth at least twice.

"Nitric oxide has been implicated in blood vessel disease and damage and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is known to mediate vascular relaxation," said Tempfer. "We found a significant difference in the genotype frequencies for one variation of the NOS3 gene between the study and control groups.

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