RENO, Nev., March 16 (UPI) -- Researchers reported in Reno, Nev., Friday that they've linked preterm births in Hispanic women to a genetic cause.
A genetic cause was suggested because of racial disparity, a tendency of preterm births to occur within families and a high rate of reoccurrence, said Dr. Errol Norwitz of Yale Medical School, who presented the study at the Gynecologic Investigation Conference.
Norwitz and his colleagues looked at DNA samples from 102 mothers with unexplained preterm births and 408 mothers who delivered at term, comparing genetic variations, their study said.
They found four gene variants in the preterm Hispanic group.
"Our analysis demonstrates that, in an Hispanic population, mothers who carried any one of four polymorphisms were significantly more likely to have a spontaneous preterm birth," said Norwitz.
Preterm birth is a major cause of illness and death in newborns.
