Correlation of Maternal KIR and Parental HLA-C Genes Diversity With Risk of Preeclampsia in Lorestan Province of Iran

Fetomaternal immune tolerance induced by natural killer cells (NKs) is a necessary phenomenon associated with maternal killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and fetal human leukocyte antigens (HLAs). We aimed to investigate maternal KIR, parental HLA-C, and maternal-parental KIR-HLA combination in 2 preeclampsia and control groups. A total of 200 couples participated in this case-control study. DNA samples were assayed through polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP). No significant difference was observed between the cases and the controls regarding the maternal KIR genes and genotypes and paternal HLA-C genes. A significant relation was found for maternal KIR and paternal HLA-C combination. The relation was for the inhibitory combination KIR2DL1+HLA-C2 in the preeclampsia group (P < 0.05; odds ratio [OR] = 2.02; sensitivity = 79%). In addition, maternal AA genotype of KIR in combination with paternal HLA-C1C2 was a risk factor (P < 00.05; OR = 3.24; specificity = 92%). The inhibitory maternal-paternal combinations KIR2DL1+HLA-C2 and AA+HLA-C1C2 seem to be more associated with risk of preeclampsia. Prediction of the risk of preeclampsia with the help of maternal KIR typing and paternal HLA-C typing can be possible in future.