Aurora kinase genetic polymorphisms: an association study in Down syndrome and spontaneous abortion

Aneuploidies, such as Down syndrome (DS), are the leading cause of pregnancy loss. Abnormalities in aurora kinase proteins result in genomic instability and aneuploidy, mainly in tumors. Thus, polymorphisms in Aurora kinase genes could influence the occurrence of DS and spontaneous abortion. A case-control study was conducted including 124 mothers of DS children (DSM) and 219 control mothers (CM) to investigate DS risk according to AURKA and AURKC polymorphisms. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan real-time PCR. The minor allele frequency (MAF) observed in AURKA rs2273535 was, respectively, 0.23 in DSM and 0.20 in CM, whereas the frequency of the AURKC rs758099 T allele was 0.32 in case and 0.33 in control mothers. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies between DSM and CM. According to previous history of spontaneous abortion, the AURKA rs2273535 genotypes (TT + AT vs. AA: OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.13-5.71, p = 0.02; AT vs. AA: OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.03-5.51, p = 0.04; T vs. A: OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.12-3.90, p = 0.02) and AURKC rs758099 (TT vs. CC: OR 4.34, 95% CI 1.03-18.02, p = 0.04; TT + CT vs. CC: OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.02-6.23, p = 0.04; T vs. C: OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.09-3.80, p = 0.02) were observed as risk factors for spontaneous abortion in case mothers. Our study suggests a possible relationship between AURKA/AURKC variants and increased risk of spontaneous abortion within Down syndrome mothers.