Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Feb 26, 2015; 3(1): 72-81
Published online Feb 26, 2015. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v3.i1.72
Association between SHBG (TAAAA)n and AR (CAG)n polymorphisms and PCOS risk: A meta-analysis
Jie-Wen Jin, Shi-Lin Chen, Zhan-Tao Deng
Jie-Wen Jin, Shi-Lin Chen, Zhan-Tao Deng, Center for Translational Medicine and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Jin JW designed the study, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Chen SL contributed to discussion and wrote the manuscript; Deng ZT designed the study, contributed to discussion and edited the manuscript.
Supported by Medical School of Nanjing University.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Zhan-Tao Deng, PhD, Center for Translational Medicine and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Gulou District, Nanjing 210093, Jiangsu Province, China. 15298386724@163.com
Telephone: +86-25-83594755 Fax: +86-25-83594755
Received: May 21, 2014
Peer-review started: May 23, 2014
First decision: July 10, 2014
Revised: July 28, 2014
Accepted: October 31, 2014
Article in press: November 3, 2014
Published online: February 26, 2015
Abstract

AIM: To systematically assess the association between sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) (TAAAA)n and androgen receptor (AR) (CAG)n polymorphisms and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) risk.

METHODS: We searched MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE and Web of Science database from inception to May 2014. To avoid missing any additional studies, we looked through all the references of relevant articles. Case-control studies concerning the (CAG)n variants in the AR gene or the (TAAAA)n polymorphism in the SHBG gene in PCOS patients were included. Five studies regarding the (TAAAA)n polymorphism in the SHBG gene and 14 studies regarding the (CAG)n polymorphism in the AR gene met our criteria. Odd ratio (OR) and weighted mean difference (WMD) were selected as the effect size measurements to evaluate the influence of the (TAAAA)n polymorphism and (CAG)n variants on PCOS risk. Begg’s test was used for the evaluation of publication bias.

RESULTS: With respect to the relationship between the (TAAAA)n polymorphism and PCOS risk, the statistical results showed that there was no significant difference between PCOS patients and controls in the alleles of TAAAA (S: OR = 0.91, 95%CI: 0.78-1.05; L: OR = 1.10, 95%CI: 0.95-1.27). Subgroup analyses of the combination of alleles indicated similar results (short-short: OR = 0.87, 95%CI: 0.66-1.14; short-long: OR = 1.12, 95%CI: 0.86-1.46; long-long: OR = 1.03, 95%CI: 0.72-1.47). As for the relationship between the (CAG)n polymorphism and PCOS risk, we found no association between CAG repeat variants and PCOS risk (WDM = 0.03, 95%CI: -0.13-0.08). Subgroup analyses by race and diagnosis criteria indicated the same results (Asian: WMD = -0.03, 95%CI: -0.14-0.07; Caucasian: WMD = -0.02, 95%CI: -0.24-0.21; the criteria of Rotterdam: WMD = 0.01, 95%CI: -0.01-0.03).

CONCLUSION: There is no association between (TAAAA)n polymorphism in SHBG gene, (CAG)n repeat variants in AR gene and PCOS.

Keywords: Sex hormone-binding globulin, TAAAA, Androgen receptor, CAG, Polycystic ovarian syndrome

Core tip: Our study investigated the association between sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) (TAAAA)n and androgen receptor (AR) (CAG)n polymorphisms and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) risk. Five studies regarding the (TAAAA)n polymorphism in the SHBG gene and 14 studies regarding the (CAG)n polymorphism in the AR gene were included based on the strict inclusion criteria. The overall meta-analysis, as well as the subgroup analysis, showed that there was no association between PCOS risk and the SHBG (TAAAA)n polymorphism or AR (CAG)n repeat variants.