STOXI gene in pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction

The STOXI gene, identified as a candidate gene for pre-eclampsia in Dutch women, is placentally expressed and subject to imprinting with preferential transmission of the maternal allele. In our study, STOXI-Y153H frequencies were similar in 157 women with pre-eclampsia (65%) and in 157 controls (64%) from the general Dutch population. In an isolated Dutch population, a distortion could not be demonstrated in the transmission of STOXI-Y153H variation from heterozygous mothers to offspring in 50 and 56 families with pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia or intrauterine growth restriction, respectively. Our findings do not confirm previous suggestions that STOXI plays a major role in Dutch women with pre-eclampsia.