Lange Ethan M, Sarma Aruna V, Ray Anna, Wang Yunfei, Ho Lindsey A, Anderson Sarah A, Cunningham Julie M, Cooney Kathleen A
Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 4300D MBRB, CB# 7264, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7264, USA.
Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
J Hum Genet. 2008;53(3):220-226. doi: 10.1007/s10038-007-0240-4. Epub 2008 Jan 24.
Repeat lengths of the CAG and GGN microsatellites in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene have been hypothesized to be associated with prostate cancer risk. In vitro studies have showed an inverse association between AR CAG and GGN repeat length and activity levels of the AR product. It is known that men of African descent have a higher incidence of and greater mortality from prostate cancer than men of Caucasian or Asian descent and, on average, a smaller number of repeats at AR CAG and GGN. Consistent with these findings, studies have also found increased AR protein expression levels in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic diseased tissues from men of African descent. Despite these findings, limited studies have been conducted to evaluate the association between repeat lengths at AR CAG and prostate cancer risk in African Americans. Our study is the first such study to examine whether repeat length of the AR GGN repeat is associated with prostate cancer risk in African Americans. We found no evidence for an association between AR CAG or GGN repeat lengths and prostate cancer risk in a population-based sample of African Americans.
雄激素受体（AR）基因外显子1中CAG和GGN微卫星的重复长度被认为与前列腺癌风险相关。体外研究表明，AR CAG和GGN重复长度与AR产物的活性水平呈负相关。众所周知，非洲裔男性前列腺癌的发病率和死亡率高于白种人或亚裔男性，并且平均而言，AR CAG和GGN的重复次数较少。与这些发现一致的是，研究还发现非洲裔男性良性前列腺增生和前列腺疾病组织中AR蛋白表达水平升高。尽管有这些发现，但评估非裔美国人中AR CAG重复长度与前列腺癌风险之间关联的研究却很有限。我们的研究是第一项此类研究，旨在检验AR GGN重复长度与非裔美国人前列腺癌风险之间是否存在关联。在一个基于人群的非裔美国人样本中，我们没有发现AR CAG或GGN重复长度与前列腺癌风险之间存在关联的证据。
