Association Study of Hyaluronan-Binding Protein 2 (HABP2) Gene Polymorphisms in Idiopathic Recurrent Pregnancy Loss...

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), also termed recurrent spontaneous abortion, is defined as the failure of ≥2 consecutive pregnancies before 20 weeks of gestation. Approximately 5% of pregnant couples experience RPL. The hyaluronan-binding protein 2 (HABP2) gene is involved in coagulation and plays an important role during pregnancy. In >50% of RPLs, the etiology remains unexplained. We collected 765 blood samples from 388 female RPL patients and 377 healthy female controls. To investigate the relationships between HABP2 polymorphisms and RPL, we examined six HABP2 variants (rs3832698 A>del, rs10885478 G>A, rs932650 T>C, rs7923349 G>T, rs1157916 G>A, and rs2240879 T>C) to clarify their association with RPL risk. The rs2240879 CC genotype was significantly associated with an increased RPL risk (p = 0.028). In haplotype analysis, the combination of rs3832698 del and rs2240879 T (del-T) was associated with elevated risk (p = 0.043); this risk persisted in combinations with additional polymorphisms (rs3832698 A>del, rs10885478 G>A, rs932650 T>C, rs7923349 G>T; del-A-T-T, p < 0.001; rs3832698 A>del, rs10885478 G>A, rs932650 T>C, rs7923349 G>T, rs1157916 G>A, rs2240879 T>C; del-A-C-T-G-T, p = 0.024). The rs3832698 and rs1157916 genotypes were significantly associated with prothrombin time (p = 0.020 and p = 0.012, respectively). We identified associations between HABP2 polymorphisms and RPL; rs2240879 was linked to an increased RPL risk. Additionally, rs3832698 was associated with an altered prothrombin time. These findings suggest that HABP2 represents a biomarker for RPL susceptibility.