Association study of vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphisms with ectopic pregnancy in Chinese women

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate potential associations between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene polymorphisms and ectopic pregnancy (EP) in Chinese women. Materials and Methods: This was a case control study wherein 192 women with a history of EP were compared to 210 post-menopausal controls with two pregnancies and no EP for the genotyping of VEGF polymorphisms. Genotyping of the VEGF gene polymorphisms at -460C/T, -1154G/A, -2578C/A and +936C/T were performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: No significant differences were found in genotype and allele distributions of the -460C/T, +936C/T polymorphisms between cases and controls. Compared with the -1154G/G genotype, the -1154(A/A+G/A) genotype could significantly reduce the risk of developing EP. For the -2578C/A polymorphism, the AJA+C/A genotype could significantly decrease the risk of developing EP, compared with the C/C genotype. The haplotype analysis suggested that the TAA (VEGF -460/-1154/-2578) and CAA haplotypes could significantly decrease the risk of developing EP compared with the haplotype of TGC. Conclusion: The -1154A or -2578A alleles of VEGF gene could significantly decrease the risk of EP and might be potentially protective factors for EP development in Chinese women.