Association between susceptibility to advanced stage endometriosis and the genetic polymorphisms of aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor and glutathione-S-transferase T1 genes.

BACKGROUND

This study was performed to determine whether genetic polymorphisms of aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AhRR), glutathione-S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) and glutathione-S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) are associated with susceptibility to advanced stage endometriosis in a Korean population.

METHODS

This study comprised 316 women with advanced stage endometriosis and 256 control women without endometriosis. Genotyping of the AhRR codon 185 was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotyping for gene deletions were carried out by multiplex PCR analysis.

RESULTS

G allele frequency at codon 185 of AhRR was increased in patients with endometriosis (P=0.047), and there was a trend for an association of C/G+G/G genotypes with risk of endometriosis (P=0.06). The proportion of null mutation at GSTT1 also tended to increase (P=0.06) in patients with endometriosis, whereas there was no difference in the genotype distribution of GSTM1 genes. Analyzing AhRR and GSTT1 together, we found that patients with high-risk genotypes at both loci have increased risk of endometriosis, compared with patients without high-risk genotypes (P=0.015).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that the AhRR codon 185 and GSTT1 polymorphisms are associated with the risk of advanced stage endometriosis.