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Preterm birth (PTB), the leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity worldwide, has many etiologies. Several investigators have been exploring the possibility that polymorphisms in critical genes may increase risk for PTB.
To test the hypothesis that genetic predisposition to inflammation increases PTB risk, investigators conducted a case-control study to determine whether the variable-number, tandem-repeat polymorphism of the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene (IL-1RN) is associated with PTB. IL-1RN, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, is a competitive inhibitor of IL-1β bioactivity and has inhibited IL-1β-induced preterm labor in animal models. Of 95 women who experienced preterm labor or preterm rupture of membranes and delivered befor…