title: Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) gene polymorphism and endometriosis in northern Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endometriosis is a chronic pleomorphic disorder with pelvic or systemic manifestations, and is characterized by the presence of endometrial glands and stroma. It is generally considered to involve genetic, environmental, immunological, angiogenic and endocrine processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) polymorphism at position 241 in exon 4 of the ICAM-1 gene in patients with endometriosis and in healthy control subjects in northern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 84 unrelated patients and 120 consecutive unrelated healthy controls from the northern Iran were recruited for the study. ICAM-1 codon 241 polymorphism analysis was performed by two independent PCR reactions, based on the two set of oligoprimers specific for Arg (AGG) or Gly (GGG) coding sequence, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genotype distributions of ICAM-1 gene show significant difference between patients and controls. The R241 allele was detected in 23% of endometriosis patients and in 6% of controls (P = 0.001; odds ratio 4.67; 95% confidence interval 1.81-12.07). Comparing patients with different stage of endometriosis, we found a trend to higher frequency of R241 in patients with stage IV (65 vs 6%; P < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that ICAM-1 polymorphism in codon 241 is associated with the development of endometriosis susceptibility in the population of northern Iran.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Guilan, 1914 Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aghajanpour
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mashayekhi
authors.forename: Farzad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rajaei
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D007492:Iran; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1