Association Studies of the Relationship Between Endometriosis and Polymorphism of the Detoxification Enzymes GSTT1, GSTM1, and CYP1A1.

Objective : Enzymes belonging to the Glutathione S transferase and cytochrome P450 families are involved in the two-stage detoxification process of a number of pro-carcinogens. We genotyped each 74 women with moderate or severe endometriosis and a control group of 93 women with a normal pelvis at cesarian section to investigate whether genetic polymorphism of CYP1A1, GSTT1, and GSTM1 are associated with endometriosis. Materials and Methods : We investigate 74 women who were operated for endometriosis and 93 women who had no endometriotic lesion proved by operation. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR was done to determine each participant's genotype. Results : We have found no significant differences between cases and controls in the frequencies of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 null mutations, or of the CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism does not differ significantly between groups. When GSTT1 and GSTM1 null mutation was combined with CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism, there was no significant differences between groups, either. Conclusion : Therefore, These low penetrance genes are not associated with increased susceptibility to endometriosis. Further studies are warranted to identify major susceptibility gene (s) and the mechanism involved in endometriosis to assist in the development of better methods for early detection, diagnosis and prevention.