Vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphism as a risk factor of endometriosis

Objective The aim of the study was to investigate the potential association between the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) +405G>C of the vascular endothelial growth factor gene with the risk of endometriosis. Materials and methods This study included 100 Egyptian women, 50 women with and 50 women without evidence of endometriosis, who were tested for association in a case–control study. Endometriosis was diagnosed by direct visualization of implants by laparoscopy and classified into stages according to the Revised American Fertility Society (R-AFS) classification (1996). Venous blood samples (EDTA) of 8 ml were taken from the peripheral blood of each individual. Genotyping for the +405G>C polymorphism was performed using real-time Taqman-based assays (SNP ID rs2010963). Results There was a significant difference in the genotype [P<0.05, odds ratio=5.2 (1.66–16.6)] and allele frequencies [P<0.05, odds ratio=2.45 (1.35–4.47)] of the +405C/G polymorphism among endometriosis patients as compared with controls. However, there was no significant difference between early-stage and advanced-stage endometriosis patients versus controls in terms of +405G/C genotype distributions. Conclusion There seems to be an association between the vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphism and the risk of endometriosis but not with its severity.