BACKGROUND: Estrogen has an important role in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA). Polymorphisms of the ESR1 gene and the ESR2 gene have been identified as risk factors for URSA, but with varied associations in Chinese populations. This study aimed to compare the role of gene polymorphisms of ESR1 and ESR2 and the risk of URSA in the Chinese Hui and Chinese Han populations.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Chinese Hui women (n=171) and Chinese Han women (n=234) with URSA were compared with healthy controls (n=417) matched by ethnicity and age. Genotyping was performed using direct sequencing and identified three polymorphisms of the ESR1 gene (rs9340799, rs2234693, and rs3798759) and three polymorphisms of the ESR2 gene (rs207764, rs4986938, and rs1256049). The association between ESR1 and ESR2 gene polymorphisms and the risk of URSA was evaluated statistically using the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

RESULTS: No association was detected between the allelic, dominant, and recessive models of ESR1 and ESR2 gene polymorphisms and the risk of URSA in Chinese Han and Hui populations (p>0.05). The distribution of the AGT haplotype containing ESR2 gene polymorphisms rs2077647A, rs4986938G, and rs1256049T was significantly reduced in patients with URSA compared with controls in the Chinese Hui population (OR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.14–0.62; p=0.0009; padj=0.005).

CONCLUSIONS: The AGT haplotype of the ESR2 gene containing the polymorphism rs2077647A, rs4986938G, and rs1256049T (ESR2 hapAGT) was a protective factor for URSA in women in the Chinese Hui population when compared with the Chinese Han population.

Keywords: Estrogen Receptor alpha, Estrogen Receptor beta, Genetic Association Studies, Polymorphism, Genetic, Abortion, Habitual, Abortion, Spontaneous, Alleles, Asians, Case-Control Studies, Estrogens, ethnicity, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genotype, Haplotypes, Odds Ratio, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide