SERPINH1 Gene and Chromosome 8 in African-Americans

African-American female carriers of the SERPINH1 gene T-allele have a higher risk of premature delivery. The T-allele is associated with a decrease in the level of a protein that stabilizes collagen which is an important component of the amniotic sac.

• This gene polymorphism was almost three times more common in premature babies born to black women.
• The gene polymorphism could contribute to more than 12 percent of preterm deliveries in African-American women.

Dr. Jerome F. Strauss III, dean of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine:

Just because you are carrying around a bad gene doesn’t mean 100 percent of the time you are going to end up with a bad outcome. There are environmental factors that determine whether the gene actually causes the bad effect.

If you could identify people at risk, you could make sure they had enough vitamin C [needed to make collagen] early on and throughout pregnancy. Interventions that reduce risk factors are, hopefully, going to be beneficial to people who carry the genetic risk factor.

In other news, chromosome 8q24 has been linked to a higher risk of prostate cancer in black men.

Forbes, August 23, 2006