Androgen receptor gene polymorphism and female sexual functionin Egyptian women

Abstract

BackgroundAndrogen receptor (AR) polymorphism in cytosine–adenine–guanine (CAG) repeat has an effect on the functional capacity of AR in males. However, little researches in this field are available regarding female sexual function.ObjectivesTo investigate the possible link between polymorphism in CAG repeat of AR gene and female sexual function in a sample of Egyptian women.Patients and methodsIn all, 500 married Egyptian women completed a questionnaire regarding sociodemographic, reproductive, and sexual data. AR CAG repeat length was analyzed for those having female sexual dysfunctions using real-time PCR.ResultsThe most sensitive domain to AR CAG repeat length was orgasm domain that showed significant positive correlations with short allele (P = 0.001), long allele (P = 0.015), biallelic mean (P = 0.000), and X-weighted biallelic mean (P = 0.000). Satisfaction domain had significant positive correlations with biallelic mean (P = 0.035) and X-weighted biallelic mean (P = 0.032). However, the pain domain was of significant negative correlations with AR polymorphism of short allele (P = 0.002), biallelic mean (P = 0.013), and X-weighted biallelic mean (P = 0.011).ConclusionsAR polymorphism could represent a nonnegligible aspect in female sexual function. The lower AR CAG repeat polymorphism was of significant impact on female sexual dysfunction affecting mainly female orgasm, followed by pain disorders that finally reflected on her sexual satisfaction.