T594M mutation of the epithelial sodium channel β‐subunit gene in pre‐eclampsia and eclampsia in Black South African women

• Published in: BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Vol. 111; no. 9; pp. 1012 - 1013
• Main Authors: Pegoraro, R.J., Roberts, C.B., Rom, L., Moodley, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK and Malden, USA Blackwell Science Ltd 01.09.2004; Blackwell
• Subjects: African Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Diseases of mother, fetus and pregnancy; Eclampsia - genetics; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Medical sciences; Mutation - genetics; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Polymorphism, Genetic - genetics; Pre-Eclampsia - genetics; Pregnancy; Pregnancy. Fetus. Placenta; Protein Subunits - genetics; Sodium Channels - genetics; South Africa; Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel beta-2 Subunit; South Africa; Africa; Human; Pregnancy disorders; Gynecology; Ionic channel; Black; Epithelium; Subunit; Obstetrics; Pregnancy toxemia; Gene; Sodium; Preeclampsia; Eclampsia; Adult; Female; Genetics; Mutation
• ISSN: 1470-0328; 1471-0528
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00221.x

The possible role of the β‐subunit of the epithelial sodium channel T594M polymorphism in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy has not been examined. This study compared Black South African women with pre‐eclampsia (n= 204), early onset pre‐eclampsia (n= 67), eclampsia (n= 120) and gestational hypertension (n= 78) with 338 women from the same ethnic group who had full‐term normotensive pregnancies, for the presence of the T594M polymorphism. The variant allele was detected in 1.7% to 3.8% of the various patient groups and in 3.6% of the control group reflecting no significant difference. These results suggest that the T594M polymorphism in the sodium channel β‐subunit is not associated with the pathogenesis of pre‐eclampsia or gestational hypertension.