Association of Cyclin Dependent Kinase Inhibitor 1A Genotypes With Pterygium Susceptibility, Age, and Sex.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Pterygium is a chronic fibrovascular ocular surface disorder with multifactorial etiology involving environmental and genetic factors. Given the tumor-like characteristics of pterygium, the cell cycle regulator cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A) has been proposed as a potential contributor. This study aimed to investigate the association between CDKN1A rs1801270 and rs1059234 polymorphisms and pterygium susceptibility.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The distributions of genotypic patterns of CDKN1A rs1801270 and rs1059234 among 160 pterygium cases and 320 controls were determined using chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. The potential interactions between CDKN1A genotype and age or sex were tested by stratified analysis.

RESULTS

No significant differences in genotype distributions were observed between cases and controls for rs1801270 (p=0.5493) or rs1059234 (p=0.5842). Stratified analyses indicated reducing effects of CDKN1A rs1801270 AA genotype by older age (≥60 years) [odds ratio (OR)=0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.18-0.82, p=0.0204] or female sex (OR=0.37, 95%CI=0.16-0.86, p=0.0307) on pterygium risk. No association was found for rs1059234 in similar stratified analyses (all p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

Although CDKN1A polymorphisms were not associated with pterygium susceptibility, rs1801270 may serve as a protective marker in female and elder subgroups. These findings suggest a context-dependent role of CDKN1A in pterygium pathogenesis, which needs further validation.