Association of TLR2, TLR4, and TLR7 gene polymorphisms with spontaneous abortion and HCMV serostatus: a case-control study in Iraqi women

Abstract

Aim: The study aims to explore the relationship between TLR2 (rs3804100), TLR4 (rs1927914), and TLR7 (rs179008) gene polymorphisms and Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) serostatus in Iraqi women, and to assess the association between spontaneous abortion (SA) and these polymorphisms. Methods: A case-control study involving 200 women compared 100 who had SAs before 20 weeks of gestation with 100 healthy pregnant controls from Diyala and Babylon Governorates. The study utilised qualitative ELISA to detect HCMV IgG and IgM antibodies in serum and employed the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique for genotyping TLR2 (rs3804100 T>C), TLR4 (rs1927914 G>A), and TLR7 (rs179008 A>T) polymorphisms. Results: The study revealed that HCMV IgG and IgM antibodies were significantly elevated in women with SA compared to the control group (P < 0.001). No notable association was found between the TLR2 rs3804100 polymorphism and SA. Notably, there were marked differences in the genotype and allele distributions of TLR4 rs1927914 and TLR7 rs179008 observed between the cases and controls. Specific genotypes of TLR4 and TLR7 genes were associated with modified odds of SA. Furthermore, the high prevalence of HCMV IgG may be linked to genetic associations, particularly TLR genotypes, whereas analysis of HCMV IgM was constrained by the low prevalence observed in control subjects. Conclusions: Variations in the TLR4 and TLR7 genes may be associated with the risk of SA in women in this population. The influence of HCMV seropositivity on immune-related genetic associations should be approached with caution. Further studies with larger sample sizes and consideration of confounding variables are needed.