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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Murine Fetal Echocardiography
Published on: February 15, 2013
An Angiopoietin-2 gene polymorphism in unexplained intrauterine fetal death: a multi-center study
Ambros Huber1, Christoph Grimm, Detlef Pietrowski
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. ambros.huber@meduniwien.ac.at
Objective:
Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) is a potent regulator of angiogenesis and vascular tone. As vascular processes have been proposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of pregnancy associated complications such as late unexplained intrauterine fetal death (IUFD), we determined whether a common G/A polymorphism of the Ang-2 gene (ANGPT2) is associated with this condition.
Methods:
In a multicenter case-control study, we evaluated the common G/A polymorphism within exon 4 of the ANGPT2 gene using PCR in 90 women with IUFD and 90 healthy women with at least one uncomplicated full term pregnancy and no history of IUFD.
Results:
Genotype (p=0.2; OR=1.4 [0.8-2.6]) and allele frequencies (p=0.1; OR=1.4 [0.9-2.1]) of the ANGPT2 polymorphism did not differ between women with IUFD and healthy women. A multivariate regression analysis with smoking habits and preexisting diabetes as covariates did not change the results.
Conclusions:
We are the first to report on a common polymorphism of the ANGPT2 gene in patients with late IUFD. The investigated ANGPT2 poylmorphism does not seem to be a candidate gene for IUFD in Caucasian women.
