Expression of elastin,lysyl oxidase and elafin in the cardinal ligament of women with pelvic organ prolapse / 中华妇产科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate expression of elastin,lysyl oxidase (LOX)and elafin in cardinal ligament of women with pelvic organ prolapse(POP) so as to determine their contributions to POP.Methods The cardinal ligament samples were obtained from 60 POP subjects and 60 non-POP control women undergoing hysterectomy.RT-PCR was used to verify the mRNA level of elastin,LOX and elafin.The protein concentration of the three genes was determined by western blotting technique,electrophoretic separation and quantification.Results The premenopansal and postmenopausal POP groups demonstrated significantly decreased expressions of elastin in cardinal ligament both in mRNA and protein levels than control group (mRNA 0.42±0.22,0.26±0.20 versus 0.79±0.30,0.63±0.23 ; protein 0.44±0.32,0.20±0.19 versus 0.89±0.27,0.78±0.25; P＜0.05).There was an identical tendency in the expression of LOX (mRNA 0.37±0.18,0.20±0.14 versus 0.65±0.22,0.53±0.20; protein 0.45±0.27,0.26±0.21 versus 0.85±0.39,0.69±0.31 ; P＜0.05).In POP group,the mRNA and protein levels of elastin and LOX in postmenopansal patients were significantly lower than premenopansal patients (P＜0.05).Inversely,POP group demonstrated an increased expression of elafin in cardinal ligament both in mRNA and protein levels than corresponding control group (mRNA 1.33±0.35,1.47±0.37 versus 0.62±0.25,0.55±0.24; protein 0.85±0.30,0.76±0.35 versus 0.21±0.15,0.29±0.22; P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the expression of elafin between premenopansal and postmenopausal POP groups either in mRNA or protein levels(P＞0.05).There was a positive correlation between elastin and LOX both in mRNA and protein levels in POP group(r=0.9959,0.9708; P＜0.05),but there was no correlation between elastin and elafin(r=-0.0402,-0.0365;P＞0.05).Conclusions The results suggest that the decreased expression of elastin and LOX and the increased expression of elafin in the cardinal ligaments may contribute to POP.