Phosphoglucomutase phenotypes and prenatal selection. Studies of spontaneous and induced abortions

The PGM1 and PGM3 phenotypes were examined in extracts of chorionic tissue from 97 spontaneous and 266 induced abortions. Contamination by maternal tissue or blood cells was shown to be insignificant. A positive association was found between the PGM11 and PGM13 genes. No significant differences in phenotype distributions were found between the population of spontaneously aborted fetuses and the normal fetal or adult populations. Hence it was concluded that there is no evidence so far for prenatal selection operating in the PGM1 and PGM3 polymorphisms.