Preeclampsia and Androgen Receptor Gene CAG Repeat Length: Results from Both Children and Women

Overview

Journal J Assist Reprod Genet

Publisher Springer

Specialties Genetics
Reproductive Medicine

Date 2005 Oct 1

PMID 16195823

Citations 1

Authors

Tanja Saarela

Jarmo Jaaskelainen

Sirpa Tenhola

Raimo Voutilainen

Seppo Heinonen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: We studied whether the CAG (encoding glutamine) repeat length polymorphism in the first exon of the androgen receptor (AR) gene is predictive of preeclampsia.

Methods: Fifty-nine children born after preeclamptic pregnancy (PRE) and 58 control subjects born after normotensive pregnancy (non-PRE) were genotyped for the CAG repeat length of the AR gene. Secondly, the ARCAG repeat lengths of 133 unrelated preeclamptic women and 112 healthy controls were studied. The mean AR gene CAG lengths were compared between the preeclampsia and the control groups.

Results: The mean length of the CAG repeat segment among children was significantly shorter in the PRE group compared with the non-PRE group (p = 0.02). Interestingly, the difference between the PRE and the non-PRE boys was even more significant (p = 0.008). Also the distribution of allele frequencies was different, short repeat lengths being overrepresented in the PRE children. However, there were no significant differences in the mean CAG repeat lengths between the unrelated preeclamptic women and their controls, but the shortest CAG repeat lengths were found only in the preeclamptic women.

Conclusions: The AR gene CAG repeat length is not a major determinant in the development of preeclampsia. The association of the shortest CAG repeats with preeclampsia is possible, but a larger study group is needed to confirm this finding.

Citing Articles

Association between genetic polymorphisms in androgen receptor gene and the risk of preeclampsia in Korean women.

Lim J, Kim S, Lee S, Park S, Han J, Chung J J Assist Reprod Genet. 2010; 28(1):85-90.

PMID: 20922474 PMC: 3045487. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-010-9485-5.

References

Elhaji Y, GOTTLIEB B, Lumbroso R, Beitel L, Foulkes W, Pinsky L . The polymorphic CAG repeat of the androgen receptor gene: a potential role in breast cancer in women over 40. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2002; 70(2):109-16. DOI: 10.1023/a:1012942910375. View

Bachmann J, Feldmer M, Ganten U, Stock G, Ganten D . Sexual dimorphism of blood pressure: possible role of the renin-angiotensin system. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 1991; 40(4-6):511-5. DOI: 10.1016/0960-0760(91)90270-f. View

Arngrimsson R, Bjornsson S, Geirsson R, Bjornsson H, Walker J, Snaedal G . Genetic and familial predisposition to eclampsia and pre-eclampsia in a defined population. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1990; 97(9):762-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1990.tb02569.x. View

Mifsud A, Ramirez S, Yong E . Androgen receptor gene CAG trinucleotide repeats in anovulatory infertility and polycystic ovaries. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000; 85(9):3484-8. DOI: 10.1210/jcem.85.9.6832. View

Acromite M, Mantzoros C, Leach R, Hurwitz J, Dorey L . Androgens in preeclampsia. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1999; 180(1 Pt 1):60-3. DOI: 10.1016/s0002-9378(99)70150-x. View

Roberts R, Bergstralh E, Cunningham J, Hebbring S, Thibodeau S, Lieber M . Androgen receptor gene polymorphisms and increased risk of urologic measures of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Am J Epidemiol. 2004; 159(3):269-76. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwh042. View

Chamberlain N, Driver E, Miesfeld R . The length and location of CAG trinucleotide repeats in the androgen receptor N-terminal domain affect transactivation function. Nucleic Acids Res. 1994; 22(15):3181-6. PMC: 310294. DOI: 10.1093/nar/22.15.3181. View

Laivuori H, Kaaja R, Rutanen E, Viinikka L, Ylikorkala O . Evidence of high circulating testosterone in women with prior preeclampsia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1998; 83(2):344-7. DOI: 10.1210/jcem.83.2.4543. View

Esplin M, Fausett M, Fraser A, Kerber R, Mineau G, Carrillo J . Paternal and maternal components of the predisposition to preeclampsia. N Engl J Med. 2001; 344(12):867-72. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200103223441201. View

10.

Choong C, Kemppainen J, Zhou Z, Wilson E . Reduced androgen receptor gene expression with first exon CAG repeat expansion. Mol Endocrinol. 1996; 10(12):1527-35. DOI: 10.1210/mend.10.12.8961263. View

11.

Barker D, WINTER P, Osmond C, Margetts B, Simmonds S . Weight in infancy and death from ischaemic heart disease. Lancet. 1989; 2(8663):577-80. DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(89)90710-1. View

12.

Quigley C, De Bellis A, Marschke K, El-Awady M, Wilson E, French F . Androgen receptor defects: historical, clinical, and molecular perspectives. Endocr Rev. 1995; 16(3):271-321. DOI: 10.1210/edrv-16-3-271. View

13.

Brown C, Goss S, Lubahn D, Joseph D, Wilson E, French F . Androgen receptor locus on the human X chromosome: regional localization to Xq11-12 and description of a DNA polymorphism. Am J Hum Genet. 1989; 44(2):264-9. PMC: 1715398. View

14.

Innes K, Marshall J, Byers T, Calonge N . A woman's own birth weight and gestational age predict her later risk of developing preeclampsia, a precursor of chronic disease. Epidemiology. 1999; 10(2):153-60. View

15.

La Spada A, Wilson E, Lubahn D, Harding A, Fischbeck K . Androgen receptor gene mutations in X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy. Nature. 1991; 352(6330):77-9. DOI: 10.1038/352077a0. View

16.

Chen H, Chen W, Wu M, Tsai F, Tsai C . Androgen receptor (AR) gene microsatellite polymorphism in postmenopausal women: correlation to bone mineral density and susceptibility to osteoporosis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2003; 107(1):52-6. DOI: 10.1016/s0301-2115(02)00315-9. View

17.

Giovannucci E, Platz E, Stampfer M, Chan A, Krithivas K, Kawachi I . The CAG repeat within the androgen receptor gene and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Urology. 1999; 53(1):121-5. DOI: 10.1016/s0090-4295(98)00468-3. View

18.

Serin I, Kula M, Basbug M, Unluhizarci K, Gucer S, Tayyar M . Androgen levels of preeclamptic patients in the third trimester of pregnancy and six weeks after delivery. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2001; 80(11):1009-13. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0412.2001.801107.x. View

19.

Tenhola S, Rahiala E, Martikainen A, Halonen P, Voutilainen R . Blood pressure, serum lipids, fasting insulin, and adrenal hormones in 12-year-old children born with maternal preeclampsia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003; 88(3):1217-22. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2002-020903. View

20.

Langdahl B, Stenkjaer L, Carstens M, Tofteng C, Eriksen E . A CAG repeat polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene is associated with reduced bone mass and increased risk of osteoporotic fractures. Calcif Tissue Int. 2003; 73(3):237-43. DOI: 10.1007/s00223-002-0019-8. View