The role of genetic determinant in the development of severe perinatal asphyxia

The frequency of GSTT1 and GSTM1 gene deletion polymorphism was determined in a case-control study of full-term Ukrainian newborns including patients with perinatal asphyxia. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction was used for genotyping 245 full-term newborns. The investigated full-term newborns with perinatal asphyxia were subdivided in the subgroups depending of severity of perinatal asphyxia and neonatal outcome. No significant differences in allele frequencies of homorygous null genotypes of GSTT1 and GSTM1 gene were detected among newborns with moderate perinatal asphyxia and healthy control. However, association with the development of severe perinatal asphyxia was detected for the deletion polymorphism in GSTT1 gene and the combination of the GSTT1 absent/GSTM1 absent in the newborns. The study shows that severe perinatal asphyxia may develop in the consequence of genetic predisposition to this condition as compare with moderate.