The INSR rs2059806 single nucleotide polymorphism, a genetic risk factor for vascular and metabolic disease, associates with pre-eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia is a risk factor for later life vascular and metabolic diseases. This study postulates that this reflects a common genetic cause, and investigates whether the INSR rs2059806 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (a risk factor for essential hypertension, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome) is also associated with pre-eclampsia. The association of INSR rs2059806 with pre-eclampsia was tested in two cohorts – a Caucasian case control group (123 pre-eclamptic mother-father-baby trios and 1185 mother-father-baby trios from uncomplicated pregnancies) and an independent cohort of Sinhalese women (175 women with pre-eclampsia and 171 women with uncomplicated pregnancies). In the Caucasian cohort, the prevalence of the INSR rs2059806 AA genotype was greater among pre-eclamptic women compared with the uncomplicated pregnancies (12.7% versus 4.7%, OR[95%CI] = 3.1[1.6–5.8], P = 0.0003). In the Sinhalese cohort, maternal INSR rs2059806 AA genotype was greater among pre-eclamptic women who delivered small for gestational age infants compared with the uncomplicated pregnancies (10.8% versus 4.2%, OR[95%CI] = 2.8[1.0–7.4], P = 0.03). Thus, it was found that the INSR rs2059806 SNP is also associated with pre-eclampsia phenotypes in two independent cohorts suggesting that genetic susceptibility may be implicated in the link between pre-eclampsia and subsequent vascular and metabolic diseases.