p53 Codon 72 Polymorphism in Patients with Endometriosis

Objective : To explore the association of p53 codon 72 polymorphism with endometriosis. Methods : Two hundred seventy-one women with surgically or histologically diagnosed edometriosis of stage I-IV, and 219 patients with no evidence of endometriosis by laparoscopy or laparotomy served as control. Allele frequencies and genotype distribution of p53 polymorphisms (arginine homozygosity, heterozygosity, and proline homozygosity) in affected women and controls were evaluated. Results : The genotype distributions of p53 codon 72 polymorphisms did not differ significantly between endometriosis group and control group (p=0.086). However, the genotype distributions of p53 codon 72 polymorphisms differ significantly between stage I-II endometriosis group and control group (p=0.043). Proline homozygotes had higher risk for stage I-II endometriosis compared to arginine homozygotes (odds ratio=2.75, p=0.013). Conclusion : These results suggest that proline homozygote of p53 codon 72 polymorphism is associated with the risk of minimal or mild stage of endometriosis in the Korean population.