Association between inherited thrombophilia in pregnancy and micronucleus frequency in peripheral blood lymphocytes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine possible predictors of an increased frequency of micronucleus (MN) and the impact of thrombophilia on the chromosomal instability in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of pregnant women in their first trimester. This study was designed as a case-control study on 74 pregnant women. It was performed in the gestational age of 11 to 14 weeks, when blood samples were collected and incubated for 72 hours. The individual MN frequency in PBL was measured by cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay. Women were grouped in control group [≤4 MN/1000 binucleated (BN) cells] and case group (>4 MN/1000 BN cells). Potential mutagenic effects of exogenous/endogenous factors in pregnant women were analyzed. By analyzing the given results, it can be concluded that pregnant women with thrombophilia have 26.69-times more chance of having a frequency of >4 MN/1000 BN than pregnant women with no thrombophilia. Our research was primarily aimed at showing that the presence of thrombophilia was a statistically important predictor of an increased MN frequency in pregnant women and it can predict about one-third of the total variance in MN frequency in the studied population.

Keywords

• lymphocytes
• micronuclei
• pregnant women
• thrombophilia