Genetic interaction analysis of VEGF-A rs3025039 and VEGFR-2 rs2071559 identifies a genetic profile at higher risk to develop nodular goiter.
J Endocrinol Invest 2020;
43:149-155. [PMID:
31376092 DOI:
10.1007/s40618-019-01092-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2019] [Accepted: 07/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
CONTEXT
Nodular goiter in patients from areas of iodine deficiency is due to the growth of follicular and endothelial cells, involving different vascular-related growth factors in its pathogenesis.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of our study was to examine the association of known single polymorphisms of vascular endothelial growth factor-A [VEGF-A], VEGF receptor-2 [VEGFR-2] and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α [HIF-1α] genes or their genetic interactions with the risk of nodular goiter development.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
116 normal subjects, without any thyroid disease, and 108 subjects with nodular goiter [subjects with goiter and at least one thyroid nodule of > 1 cm of maximum size and in absence of signs of autoimmunity] were selected from a homogeneous population living in a mild iodine deficiency geographic area. Analyses were performed on germline DNA obtained from blood samples and VEGF-A rs3025039, VEGFR-2 rs2071559, and HIF-1αrs11549465 SNPs were investigated by real-time PCR technique. The multifactor dimensionality reduction [MDR] methodology was applied to investigate the genetic interaction between SNPs. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was performed.
RESULTS
None of the studied polymorphisms were individually associated with a higher risk to develop nodular goiter [P > 0.05]. The combination of the VEGF-A rs3025039 and VEGFR-2 rs2071559 polymorphisms had the highest accuracy of 0.58 [P = 0.018] and the interaction of some genotypes was significantly associated with the risk of nodular goiter development.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results support a genetic interaction between the VEGF-A rs3025039 and VEGFR-2 rs2071559 polymorphisms as a predictor of the risk to develop nodular goiter in subjects coming from an area with mild iodine deficiency.
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