Vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphisms are associated with the risk of developing adenomyosis

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a major mediator of angiogenesis and vascular permeability, may play a key role in the development of adenomyosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these four VEGF polymorphisms (-2578C/A, -1154G/A, -460C/T, and +936C/T) were associated with the risk of adenomyosis development. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay in 174 adenomyosis patients and 199 frequency-matched control women. There were significant differences between patients and control group in allele frequencies and genotype distributions of the -2578C/A polymorphisms (P = 0.010 and 0.044, respectively). Compared with the C/C genotype, the A/A + C/A genotype could significantly modify the risk of developing adenomyosis [odds ratio (OR) = 0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.42-0.97]. For the -1154G/A polymorphism, the allele frequencies and genotype distributions in patient group were significant different from those of the controls (P = 0.001 and 0.007, respectively). Compared with the G/G genotype, the A/A + G/A genotype could significantly decrease the risk of developing adenomyosis (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.33-0.80). However, the genotype distributions and allele frequencies of the -460C/T and +936C/T polymorphisms did not significantly differ between controls and patients (all P value > 0.05). The haplotype analysis suggested that the TGA (VEGF -460/-1154/-2578) and CGA haplotypes exhibited a significant decrease in the risk of developing adenomyosis compared with the haplotype of TGC (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.41-1.00; OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.21-0.93, respectively). The study indicated that the -2578A or -1154A allele of VEGF gene could significantly decrease the risk of adenomyosis and might be potentially protective factors for adenomyosis development.