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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Modeling Ascending Vaginal Infection, Preterm Birth, and Neonatal Morbidity in Mice
Published on: October 10, 2025
Spontaneous preterm birth in African Americans is associated with infection and inflammatory response gene variants
Digna R Velez1, Stephen Fortunato, Poul Thorsen
1Dr John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics and Miami Institute of Human Genomics, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Objective:
The objective of the study was to study the genetic risk factors of spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) in African Americans.
Study Design:
Case-control analyses were performed using maternal and fetal deoxyribonucleic acid from 279 African American birth events (82 PTB and 197 term) and 1432 single-nucleotide polymorphisms from 130 candidate genes. Single-locus association and haplotype analyses were performed.
Results:
The most significant associations were in the maternal interleukin (IL)-15 (rs10833, allele P = 2.91 x 10(-4), genotype P = 2.00 x 10(-3)) gene and the fetal IL-2 receptor B (IL-2RB) (rs84460, allele P = 1.37 x 10(-4), genotype P = 6.29 x 10(-4)) gene. The best models for these markers were additive (rs10833, odds ratio [OR], 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14-0.62; P = 1.0 x 10(-3); rs84460, OR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.47-3.67; P < 1.0 x 10(-3)). The largest number of significant associations was found in genes related to infection and inflammation. There were overall a larger number of significant associations in infants than in mothers.
Conclusion:
These results support a strong role for genes involved in infection and inflammation in the pathogenesis of PTB, particularly IL-12 and IL-12RB, and indicate that in African Americans there may be complementarity of maternal and fetal genetic risks for PTB.
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