title: Immunization associated with erectile dysfunction based on cross-sectional and genetic analyses.
abstract: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a global disease affecting a large number of people. Some studies have found a relationship between low-grade inflammation and ED. We hypothesized that the immune system might play a key role in the outcome of ED. Five immune agents (C3, C4, IgA, IgM, and IgG) were collected based on the Fangchenggang Area Male Health and Examination Survey (FAMHES), using methods of a traditional cross-sectional analysis. Our results repeated the significant association between ED and metabolic syndrome, obesity, and so forth. However, there seemed to be no positive relation between the tested indexes and ED risk in the baseline analysis (C3: P = 0.737; C4: P = 0.274; IgA: P = 0.943; IgG: P = 0.069; IgM: P = 0.985). Then, after adjusting for age and multivariate covariates, a potentially significant association between ED and IgG was discovered (P = 0.025 and P = 0.034, respectively). Meanwhile, in order to describe the development of ED on a gene level, SNP-set kernel-machine association test (SKAT) was applied with the known humoral immune genes involved. The outcomes suggested that PTAFR (binary P value: 0.0096; continuous P value: 0.00869), IL27 (0.0029; 0.1954), CD37 (0.0248; 0.5196), CD40 (0.7146; 0.0413), IL7R (0.1223; 0.0222), PSMB9 (0.1237; 0.0212), and CXCR3 (0.0849; 0.0478) might be key genes in ED, especially IL27, when we restricted the family-wise error rate (FWER) to 0.5. Our study shows that IgG and seven genes (PTAFR, CD37, CD40, IL7R, PSMB9, CXCR3, and especially IL27) might be key factors in the pathogenesis of ED, which could pave the way for future gene and immune therapies.
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China; Institute of Urology and Nephrology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Medical Scientific Research Centre, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Xianxiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China; Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Haiying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Fudan Institute of Urology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Fudan Center for Genetic Epidemiology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Center for Cancer Genomics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China; Institute of Urology and Nephrology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China; Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China; Department of Clinical Laboratory, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China; Medical Scientific Research Centre, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Yanling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomic and Personalized Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China Zhuang Autonomous Region, China; Institute of Urology and Nephrology, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Zengnan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral / Q000235:genetics; D007114:Immunization; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G