Abstract

PURPOSE Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is defined as the occurrence of two or more miscarriages before the 20th week of pregnancy. T helper17 cells are a novel subset of T cells, which secrete IL (Interleukin)-17 and are known to be involved in inflammation, autoimmunity and rejection of non-self tissues. Herein, we studied the association between IL-17A rs2275913 and IL-17F rs763780 gene polymorphisms with RPL in Iranian women. METHODS A case-controlled study was performed on two groups consisting of 85 healthy women with at least one delivery and 85 women with the history of two or more RPLs. The frequency of IL-17A rs2275913 and IL-17 F rs763780 polymorphisms were determined by PCR-RFLP. RESULTS In the RPL group, the genotypes frequencies of rs2275913 polymorphism were GG (8.2 %), AG (30.6 %), and AA (61.2 %) and in the control group, were GG (3.5 %), AG (42.4 %) and AA (54.1 %). Statistical analysis showed no significant difference between the genotypes of AA, AG and GG in the two groups (p = 0.1). The genotypes frequencies of rs763780 polymorphism were TT (43.5 %), TC (49.4 %) and CC (7.1 %) in the RPL group; whereas the frequencies were TT (25.9 %), TC (70.6 %) and CC (3.5 %) in the control group. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in the TT, TC, and CC genotypes frequencies between the case and the control groups (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that IL-17F polymorphism, rs763780, might be associated with a high risk of RPL in Iranian women.