Polymorphisms of vascular cell adhesion molecule1 (VCAM1) in polycystic ovary syndrome determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and melting curve analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy associated with increased risk of obesity, insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Low-grade chronic inflammation and imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines has been proposed to play a role in the pathogenesis. Vascular cell adhesion molecule1 (VCAM1) is among the parameters reflecting low-grade chronic inflammation whose expression is increased by pro-inflammatory cytokines. This study examined the possible association of T-1591C and T-833C single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of VCAM1 gene with the occurrence and the clinical/biochemical characteristics of PCOS.

STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed genotype and allele distributions of the above-mentioned SNPs in DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes of 169 patients with PCOS and 179 healthy women, by a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method combined with melting curve analysis using fluorescence-labeled hybridization probes.

RESULTS: No significant associations between PCOS and the variant alleles of VCAM1-1591 (OR: 1.09, 95% CI=0.74-1.58) and -833 (OR: 1.42, 95% CI=0.59-3.43) were observed. None of the studied polymorphisms was found to affect IR indices and sVCAM levels significantly. However, PCOS women heterozygous for VCAM1-1591 polymorphism (CT) had significant increased triglyceride and decreased HDL-C in comparison with wild homozygous (TT) ones.

CONCLUSIONS: Although there is no association between -1591 and -833 polymorphisms of VCAM1 gene and susceptibility to PCOS, higher triglyceride and lower HDL-C in VCAM1-1591 CT genotype suspect that heterozygous patients are prone to increased risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. In addition, bearing in mind that PCOS is a consequence of interaction between various genetic and environmental factors, the association between heterozygocity of VCAM1-1591 polymorphism and some lipid parameters may depend on the impact of other known or unknown polymorphisms, being in linkage disequilibrium with this locus of VCAM1 gene.