Relationship between hypospadias and HOXA13, EGF and EGFR genes in children / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To analyze the relationship between the expression of homeobox A13 (HOXA13), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene in prepuce tissue of children with congenital hypospadias, discuss the relationship and significance of HOXA13, EGF and EGFR genes in congenital hypospadias and to understand their role in the pathogenesis of hypospadias.@*Methods@#65 cases of hypospadias were selected as the experimental group and 42 cases of phimosis as the control group. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the pathological characteristics of prepuce tissues in the two groups. Immunohistochemistry, real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the expression of HOXA13, EGF and EGFR in the two groups.@*Results@#⑴ HE staining showed that the epidermis of hypospadias was composed of keratinized stratified flat epithelium and epidermis of penile skin. The prepuce of phimosis children showed only infiltration of inflammatory cells in the superficial layer of the inner prepuce, blood vessel congestion, no obvious appendage structure, mostly fibroblasts. ⑵ Immunohistochemistry The positive expressions of HOXA13, EGF and EGFR in the control group were significantly higher than those in the experimental group (P<0.01). ⑶ qRT-PCR The expression levels of HOXA13, EGF and EGFR in the control group were 53.447±33.471, 80.012±20.430, 75.012±14.339, and the expression levels of HOXA13, EGF and EGFR in the experimental group were 9.128±5.996, 45.521±18.242, 32.043±10.215, respectively. The expression of HOXA13, EGF and EGFR in the control group was significantly higher than that in the experimental group (P<0.01). ⑷ Western blot The expression levels of HOXA13, EGF and EGFR in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group.@*Conclusions@#The expression of HO-XA13, EGF and EGFR in prepuce tissue of children with hypospadias is low, which may be related to hypospadias.