Abstract

Objective: Disorders of steroid hormone metabolism might be related to the etiology of focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver (FNH), a benign tumor, especially prevalent in women. The cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) enzyme is implicated in the bioactivation of multiple precarcinogens as well as in the metabolism of steroids. Genetic polymorphisms of CYP1A1 have been associated with altered catalytic activity in the hydroxylation of sex hormones and this may account for interindividual variability in exposure to hormone-mediated cell proliferation signals and reactive steroid metabolites. In the study at hand, we aimed to evaluate a possible association between CYP1A1*1, *2A, *2B, and *4 alleles and FNH. Method: Genotyping of 26 affected female patients of Caucasian origin was carried out using PCR/RFLP. Results: Allele frequencies for the CYP1A1 variants *2A, *2B and *4 in 26 female patients with FNH were 0.058, 0.019 and 0.058, respectively. Crude odds ratios for the individual alleles were 0.75 (95% CI 0.23 – 2.44), 0.72 (95% CI 0.10 – 5.34) and 1.96 (95% CI 0.59 – 6.50), respectively. There were no significant differences between these values and corresponding allele frequencies obtained in a large German sample of unaffected Caucasian women. Conclusion: The present data do not suggest a relevant association between CYP1A1 polymorphisms and focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver in female Caucasians.

Author Details

Authors

• A. Lazar¹
• H. Menzel¹,²
• I. Cascorbi⁵
• G. Kümel¹
• M. Sachs³
• S. Rietbrock¹,²
• I. Roots⁴
• U. Fuhr¹,²

Departments

• ¹ Department of Pharmacology, University Hospital, University of Cologne, Clinical Pharmacology,
• ² Pharmazentrum Frankfurt, Klinikum der Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität,
• ³ Clinic of General Surgery, Klinikum der Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main,
• ⁴ Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, University Medical Center Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin, and
• ⁵ Institute of Pharmacology, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany

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