Association of HOXA13 Gene Expression among Premenopausal Women with the Severity of Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: To determine the association of HOXA13 gene expression in vaginal wall tissue with the severity of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among premenopausal women. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 60 premenopausal women. Subjects with ≥stage II POP were enrolled as cases, while those with benign gynecological conditions other than prolapse were taken as controls. Vaginal tissues were obtained during surgical procedures and HOXA13 gene analysis was done using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used for the correlation of true fold change of HOXA13 gene with other parameters. Results: Overall, HOXA13 gene was observed 1.21-fold downregulated in women with POP (p = 0.38). The gene was diminished in higher stages (stage III and stage IV) of POP (p = 0.007). It was found downregulated in most (84.21%) of the females above 40 years (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Downregulation of HOXA13 gene was seen in the majority of the women with POP, though not statistically significant. The gene expression was significantly diminished in women with advanced stages of prolapse (stage III and stage IV) as well as in women with age above 40 years. Clinical significance: Downregulation of HOXA13 gene can be one of the etiological factors of POP. Hence, preventive strategies may be developed using its gene expression analysis in future.

The Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Gene Polymorphisms as Risk Factor for Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Balinese Women

“…27 Heavy work during adolescence (more than 21 hours/week with strenuous activity) may present an increased danger of developing POP. [28][29][30] In the POP group, the median BMI was 22.54 kg/m 2 with an IQR of 4.09 kg/m 2 and did not significantly differ from the group without prolapse. The results of BMI in POP patients in this study were different from several previous studies.…”