Our Old Friends ERAP1 and ERAP2 Behind Preclampsia Risk... Who Knew?

Why Do ERAP1 and ERAP2 seem so familiar?

This study, by Johnson et al., published a while ago, points to the fact that we should not be doing anything that harms ERAP1 and ERAP2 expression.

“The ERAP2 gene is associated with preeclampsia in Australian and Norwegian populations”

Published in 2009, it adds fuel to the fire that got started when Stamogiannos et al. discovered that Thimerosal, used in multi-dose vials of some vaccines, including about 60% of influenza vaccines on the market today, specifically inhibits ERAP1

 From Johnson et al:

Abstract

“Preeclampsia is a heritable pregnancy disorder that presents new onset hypertension and proteinuria. We have previously reported genetic linkage to preeclampsia on chromosomes 2q, 5q and 13q in an Australian/New Zealand (Aust/NZ) familial cohort. This current study centered on identifying the susceptibility gene(s) at the 5q locus. We firstly prioritized candidate genes using a bioinformatic tool designed for this purpose. We then selected a panel of known SNPs within 10 prioritized genes and genotyped them in an extended set of the Aust/NZ families and in a very large, independent Norwegian case/control cohort (1,139 cases, 2,269 controls). In the Aust/NZ cohort we identified evidence of a genetic association for the endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1) gene(rs3734016; puncorr =0.009) and for the endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 2 (ERAP2) gene(rs2549782; puncorr=0.004). In the Norwegian cohort we identified evidence of a genetic association for ERAP1 (rs34750; puncorr =0.011) and for ERAP2 (rs17408150; puncorr=0.009). The

 ERAP2 SNPs in both cohorts remained statistically significant (rs2549782; pcorr  =0.018; rs17408150; pcorr=0.039) after corrections at an experiment-wide level. The ERAP1 and ERAP2 genes encode enzymes that are reported to play a role in blood pressure regulation and essential hypertension in addition to innate immune and inflammatory responses. Perturbations within vascular, immunological and inflammatory pathways constitute important physiological mechanisms in preeclampsia pathogenesis. We herein report a novel preeclampsia risk locus, ERAP2, in a region of known genetic linkage to this pregnancy-specific disorder.”

If anyone were paying attention, Thimerosal would be banned completely from any “medical” use, especially in pregnant women and in young children.

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