Gene causing stillbirth in the late stages of pregnancy was found

Scientists have found a new gene which may cause stillbirth in the late stages of pregnancy, the press service of Uppsala University reports. The new scientific work was published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

The results of the study may become the reason why babies die stillbirth or shortly after birth, as well as, they can be used for prenatal diagnosis.

"There are several reasons why the fetuses die in the uterus, such as diseases of the mother, infections, problems with the placenta or umbilical cord, chromosomal abnormalities and malformations," Karin Eurenius, chief physician at the University Hospital and co-author of the article said, adding that in up to half of deaths before birth, the exact cause cannot be identified.

The new gene causes the syndrome known as FADS and it affect  the muscles in a fetus. In such cases it lessens the movement of a baby in the uterus, reduces growth, deforms limbs and underdevelops lungs, which eventually causes late fetal death.

Scientists studied Swedish families, where all the babies, except one, had died as a result of FADS syndrome. Doctors were not able to determine the reason for death and didn’t discover any genetic mutations.

Researchers analyzed DNA of the mother, father and ill fetal and detected MuSK mutation in the gene.

The mutant gene didn’t lead to any diseases among the father and mother, but in case of babies, it was so striking that could lead to their death.

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