CYP17 and CYP19 genetic variants are not associated with age at natural menopause in Polish women

Analysis of the Relationship between Estradiol and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Concentrations and Polymorphisms of Apolipoprotein E and LeptinGenes in Women Post-Menopause

Background: Menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation due to loss of ovarian follicular activity. A review of the available literature indicates that correlations between the changes that take place in a woman’s body after menopause and different genetic variants are still being sought. Methods: The study was conducted in 252 women who had completed physiological menopause. The women were divided into groups according to the time elapsed since menopause. The total concentrations of estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone were determined by means of electrochemiluminescence. The apolipoprotein E (APOE) and lepitn (LEP) genotypes were determined by real-time PCR and polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism, respectively. Results: We observed that people with the APOE3/E3 genotype entered menopause insignificantly later compared to other genotypes. Additionally, in the group of patients with the APOE3/E3 genotypes, differences in the E2 concentration were significantly related to the time since their last menstruation. There is no association found in the literature between these polymorphisms of the LEP gene and hormones. Conclusions: To date, attempts to formulate a model describing the association between E2 and FSH concentration with the polymorphisms of various genes of menopause in women have not been successful. This relationship is difficult to study because of the number of nongenetic factors. Environmental factors can explain variation in postmenopausal changes in hormone levels.

Polymorphisms in the cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 1A1 and 17 genes are not associated with acne vulgaris in the Polish population

Introduction

The pathogenesis of acne is complex, multifactorial and not well understood. The genetic background of this dermatosis is well documented.

Aim

To assess the frequency of –34 T > C single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter of the CYP17 gene as well as m1 (+6,235 T > C) and m2 (+4,889 A > G) mutation in the coding region CYP1A1 gene acne patients from the Northern Polish population.

Material and methods

The study included 115 acne patients and 94 healthy controls (aged over 20) without acne in anamnesis. The CYP1A1 polymorphism was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used to analyze m1 mutation and allele-specific PCR in the case of m2 mutation. The CYP17 polymorphism was analyzed by RFLP. The results were evaluated by the Pearson's χ² test.

Results

There were no statistically significant associations between allele and genotype frequencies between the acne and the control group.

Conclusions

We did not confirm the role of the CYP1A1 and CYP17 gene as predictor factors for acne development in the Polish population.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of proliferation, apoptosis and steroidogenic enzymes in the ovary of rats with polycystic ovary

Objective: to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of proliferative, apoptotic and steroidogenic enzyme markers in the ovaries of rats with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: twenty rats were divided into two groups: GCtrl - estrous phase, and PCOS - with polycystic ovaries. The GCtrl animals were subjected to a lighting period from 7 am to 7 pm, while the animals with PCOS group remained with continuous lighting for 60 days. Subsequently, the animals were anesthetized, the ovaries were removed and fixed in 10% formaldehyde, prior to paraffin embedding. Sections were stained using H.E. or subjected to immunohistochemical methods for the detection of Ki-67, cleaved caspase-3, CYP11A1, CYP17A1 and CYP19A1. The results were analyzed using Student's t-test (p < 0,05). Results: morphological results showed evidence of interstitial cells originating from the inner theca cells of degenerating ovarian cysts in PCOS. Immunoexpression of Ki-67 was higher in the granulosa cells in GCtrl, and the theca interna cells in PCOS, while cleaved caspase-3 was higher in granulosa cells of ovarian cysts from PCOS and in the theca interna cells of GCtrl. Immunoreactivity of CYP11A1 in the theca interna, granulosa and interstitial cells was similar between the two groups, while CYP17A1 and CYP19A1 were higher in the granulosa and interstitial cells in the PCOS group. Conclusion: the results indicate that the interstitial cells are derived from the theca interna and that enzymatic changes occur in the theca interna and interstitial cells in ovaries of rats with PCOS, responsible for the high levels of androgens and estradiol.