We genotyped the Val158Met polymorphism in the COMT gene by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) analysis in a Chinese population.
In the case-control study that included 187 patients with preeclampsia (cases) and 189 normal subjects (controls), the AA genotype and variant Met聽allele frequencies of Val158Met in the COMT gene were significantly higher in patients with preeclampsia than those in the control group (both p <0.05). The odds ratio for the risk of preeclampsia was 2.395 [95%confidence interval (CI): 1.061-5.408] in women homozygous for the variant COMT allele (蠂2聽= 4.649, p聽= 0.031). Furthermore, it showed that obese women homozygous for the variant COMT allele (Met/Met) had higher diastolic blood pressure levels during pregnancy than wild-type homozygotes (Val/Val) (p聽= 0.034).
Our study provided evidence in favor of COMT being a candidate gene for conferring genetic susceptibility to preeclampsia in a South West Chinese population.