Association of candidate gene polymorphisms with clinical subtypes of preterm birth in a Latin American population

Background. Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. PTB is often classified according to clinical presentation: Idiopathic (PTB-I), preterm premature rupture of membranes (PTB-PPROM), and medically induced (PTBM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between specific candidate genes and clinical subtypes of PTB. Methods. 24 SNPs were genotyped in 18 candidate genes in 709 infant triads. Of them, 243 were PTB-I, 256 PTB-PPROM, and 210 PTB-M. These data were analyzed with a Family-Based Association. Results. PTB was nominally associated with rs2272365 in PON1, rs883319 in KCNN3, rs4458044 in CRHR1, and rs610277 in F3. Regarding clinical subtypes analysis, 3 SNPs were associated with PTB-I (rs2272365 in PON1, rs10178458 in COL4A3, and rs4458044 in CRHR1), rs610277 in F3 was associated with PTBPPROM, and rs883319 in KCNN3 and rs610277 in F3 were associated with PTB-M. Conclusions. Our study identified polymorphisms potentially associated with specific clinical subtypes of PTB in this Latin American population. These results could suggest a specific role of such genes in the mechanisms involved in each clinical subtype. Further studies are required to confirm our results and to determine the role of these genes in the pathophysiology of clinical subtypes

A benchmark for multi-conjugated AO: VLT-MAD observations of the young massive cluster Trumpler 14

MAD is the first multi-conjugated adaptive optics system at the VLT. We present H and Ks observations of the young massive cluster Trumpler 14 revealing the power of MCAO systems by providing a homogeneous Strehl ratio over a large field of view. Mean Strehl ratios of 6.0 and 5.9 per cent with maximum Strehl ratios of 9.8 and 12.6 per cent in H and Ks, respectively, show significant improvement of the spatial PSF stability compared to single-conjugated adaptive optics systems. Photometry of our observations cover a dynamic range of ~10 mag including 2-3 times more sources than comparable seeing-limited observations. The colour-magnitude diagram reveals that the massive cluster originated in a recent starburst-like event 1+/-0.5 Myr ago. We tentatively detect hints for an older population of 3 Myr suggesting that low intensity star formation might have been going on in the HII region for a few Myr. We derive the luminosity function and mass function between 0.1 M_sun and 3.2 M_sun and identify a change of the power law slope of the mass function at m_c~0.53(+0.12/-0.10) M_sun. The MF appears shallow with power law slopes of Gamma1=-0.50+/-0.11 above m_c and Gamma2=0.63+/-0.32 below m_c.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 12 pages, 10 figures, 2 table

Sequence variants in oxytocin pathway genes and preterm birth: a candidate gene association study

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