Interleukin-6 gene polymorphisms and its relation to spontaneous preterm labour among Egyptian women

Objective: to verify the possible relationship between interleukin-6 (IL-6) promoter -174 polymorphisms and spontaneous preterm birth between 28 and 37 weeks of gestation among Egyptian women.
Methods: This is a multicenter case control study comprising 184 pregnant women between 28 and 36+6 weeks of gestational age (GA) at termination, divided into a study group including sixty one women with established preterm labor, and another 123 pregnant women at full term represented the control group. Venous blood samples were taken for DNA extraction using QIAamp DNA Blood Mini Kit for IL-6 promoter polymorphism status.
Results: Among the preterm delivering women, 65.6%, 26.2% and 8.2% had C/C, G/C and G/G variants, respectively. On the other hand, within the 123 women representing the control group, we found 84.6%, 15.4% who showed C/C and G/C variants. There was no single woman showing the G/G variant. This was statistically significant (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The genetic make-up of interleukin-6 production may have a role in the etiology of preterm labour among Egyptian women of Middle Eastern ethnicity. PCR for IL-6 polymorphism could be proposed as one of the predictors for preterm labor, however, in a multi-factorial problem like preterm labor it is not the only predictor tool.