Objective
Endometriosis has a complex and multifactorial pathology, and it is considered one of the main causes of infertility nowadays. The angiogenic process, which involves remodeling of extracellular matrix, is crucial for the development of this disease, mainly by the action of the matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3). It is known that genetic factors can influence endometriosis, thus; we investigated the role of
MMP3 276G>A
polymorphism as a risk factor for the development of the disease and its symptoms.
Study Design
This case-control study included 283 women with endometriosis (cases) and 217 women without the disease (controls) who were submitted to laparoscopic or laparotomy surgery. Real-time polymerase chain reaction performed by
TaqMan
system was applied for all polymorphisms. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between polymorphism and endometriosis or clinical and gynecological characteristics of the disease, using their respective odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Results
The allelic frequency of the
MMP3 276 G > A
polymorphism was 33.6% in controls and 40.3% in endometriosis cases. The allelic distribution was significantly different between the two (
P
= 0.03). The variant genotype of
MMP3 276AA
was associated with increased endometriosis risk in the advanced endometriosis cases (OR: 2.08, 95% CI: 1.05 – 4.07 and OR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.01 – 3.45). Regarding the symptoms, endometriosis-related infertile women had a positive association with the presence of
MMP3 276 G > A
polymorphism (OR: 3.13, 95% CI: 1.08–9.08 and OR: 3.30, 95% CI: 1.31 – 8.33).
Conclusions
These findings suggest that the
MMP3 276A
polymorphism is involved with advanced endometriosis cases and infertility, and these associations may implicate in the behavior of disease.