The correlation of sexual dysfunction and estrogen receptor gene polymorphism in Chinese Han women with epilepsy

Abstract

Objective To investigate the correlation between sexual dysfunction(SD)and estrogen receptor (ER) gene polymorphism in Chinese Han women with epilepsy (WWE). Methods A total of 112 married Chinese Han women with epilepsy were collected from outpatients and inpatients of the Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, and 120 matched healthy women were taken as the control group.WWE were treated with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for one year or more.The Chinese version of female sexual function index (FSFI) was used to investigate the sexual function of the subjects.The chemiluminescence method was used to detect the sex hormones levels such as prolactin(PRL), follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH), luteinizing hormone(LH), estradiol(E2), progesterone(P) and testosterone(T). Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to determine the ER gene polymorphism.Chi-square test, t-test and binary logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.The differences of the sexual function, sex hormone, ER genotype, and allele frequency were compared between the two groups.And the correlation between SD and ER gene polymorphism was analyzed. Results (1) The proportion of SD in Chinese Han WWE was 70.5%(79/112), while that was 24.2%(29/120) in the control group.The serum prolactin (PRL) level in the WWE group was significantly higher than that in the control group (t=2.072, P=0.039). (2) The allele frequencies of ER PvuII C and AluI A in the WWE group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P=0.001; P=0.001). (3) Binary logistic regression analysis showed that PvuII CC genotype and serum testosterone level were independently correlated with SD (OR=6.074, 95%CI: 1.257-29.352, P=0.025; OR=0.412, 95%CI: 0.201-0.842, P=0.015). Conclusion ERα PvuII polymorphism may be related to the susceptibility of SD in Chinese Han WWE, and PvuII CC genotype may be the risk genotype of SD in WWE. Key words: Epilepsy; Women; Sexual dysfunction; Sex hormone; Estrogen receptor