HOTAIR genetic variants are associated with prostate cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia in an Iranian population

Prostate cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) are heterogeneous disorders with a wide array of clinical presentations and high prevalence among men. Several protein coding genes as well as non-coding genes have been shown to contribute in prostate cancer and BPH risk. Among non-coding genes whose contribution in tumorigenesis has been identified is HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR). In the present study we aimed at identification of the associations between three HOTAIR polymorphisms (rs12826786, rs1899663 and rs4759314) and risk of prostate cancer and BPH by the means of tetra-primer ARMS-PCR in a population of 128 Iranian prostate cancer patients, 143 BPH patients and 250 normal male controls. The study showed that rs1899663 T allele was associated with BPH risk. Comparison between prostate cancer and BPH groups showed that rs1899663 is associated with cancer risk in co-dominant, dominant and recessive inheritance models. The rs12826786 T allele was significantly more presented in both BPH and prostate cancer groups compared with healthy subjects. This SNP was associated with both BPH and prostate cancer risk in co-dominant and recessive models. However, rs4759314 showed no significant difference in allele or genotype frequencies between three mentioned groups. In addition, some haplotypes within this gene were associated with increased prostate cancer and BPH risk. Consequently, HOTAIR can be suggested as a risk locus for prostate cancer and BPH in Iranian population.