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. 2009 Jul;201(1):94.e1-10.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2009.02.027. Epub 2009 May 15.

Association of genetic ancestry with preterm delivery and related traits among African American mothers

Hui-Ju Tsai  1 , Yunxian Yu, Shanchun Zhang, Colleen Pearson, Katherin Ortiz, Xiping Xu, Howard Bauchner, Barry Zuckerman, Xiaobin Wang
Affiliations

Association of genetic ancestry with preterm delivery and related traits among African American mothers

Hui-Ju Tsai et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: In the United States, the rate of preterm delivery (PTD) is higher in African Americans (17.8%) than non-Hispanic whites (11.5%). Such disparity cannot be fully explained by differences in socioenvironmental factors.

Study design: We genotyped 812 mothers in a case-control PTD study at Boston Medical Center who self-reported their ethnicity as "black." Regression analysis and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were applied to evaluate ancestral distribution and the association between genetic ancestry and PTD-related traits, as well as the potential confounding effect of population stratification.

Results: The estimated African ancestral proportion was 0.90 +/- 0.13. We found significant associations of ancestral proportion with PTD as a whole and PTD subgrouped by the presence of maternal hypertensive disorders. We did not observe significant confounding as a result of population stratification in this case-control PTD study.

Conclusion: Our data underline the need for more intensive investigation of genetic admixture in African Americans to identify novel susceptibility genes of PTD.

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Distribution of African ancestral proportion in cases and controls Tsai. Association of genetic ancestry with preterm delivery and related traits among African American mothers. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009.
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