ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences 2023 Jan 18

DOI: 10.23736/S0390-5616.22.05832-5

Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

VEGF gene polymorphisms in Iranian patients with intracranial glioblastoma

Sara HANAEI ^{1, 2}, Hanieh MOJTAHEDI ^{3, 4}, Mohamad NAMVAR ¹, Arad IRANMEHR ¹, Reyhaneh SAFAEI ⁵, Azadehsadat RAZAVI ⁶, Marzie ESMAEILI ⁶, Maryam SADR ³, Arezou REZAEI ⁶, Maryam EDALATFAR ⁷, Hamidreza KHAYAT KASHANI ⁷, Mohsen SADEGHI-NAINI ⁸, Farzaneh DARBEHESHTI ⁹, Jaber GHAREHDAGHI ¹⁰, Mehdi FOROUZESH ¹⁰, Abdolali EBRAHIMI ¹¹, Nima REZAEI ^{4, 6, 11, 12} ✉

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran; ² Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran; ³ Molecular Immunology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; ⁴ Network of Immunity in Infection, Malignancy and Autoimmunity (NIIMA), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran; ⁵ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran; ⁶ Research Center for Immunodeficiencies, Children’s Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; ⁷ Department of Neurosurgery, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; ⁸ Department of Neurosurgery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorram Abad, Iran; ⁹ School of Medicine, Department of Genetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; ¹⁰ Legal Medicine Research Center, Legal Medicine Organization, Tehran, Iran; ¹¹ School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; ¹² School of Medicine, Department of Immunology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma is one of the most common malignant brain tumors in adults with poor prognosis. Neovascularization is one of the characteristics of these tumors, which is associated with overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Accordingly, single nucleotide polymorphisms of this gene could play an important role in structural and functional alterations leading to overexpression of this gene in GBM.
METHODS: A total number of 49 patients with GBM and 50 healthy controls were included in the current study. The Genomic DNA was extracted from brain tumor/tissue samples, and after purification assessment, the alleles, and genotypes of rs3025039 and rs2010963 polymorphisms of the VEGF gene were investigated using T-ARMS-PCR.
RESULTS: The “T” allele of rs3025039 was 2.79 times more frequent in GBM patients compared to controls (P=0.01). Moreover, the “CT” genotype was 2.83 times more common among patients (P=0.015), while the “CC” was more frequent in controls (P=0.009). The mean overall survival was significantly different between three genotypes of rs3025039, with the longest survival time in “CT” genotype (15.10±5.21, P=0.041). Besides, rs2010963, was significantly associated with GBM occurrence, with the “G” allele being 1.96 times more frequent in patients (P=0.01), as well as the “GG” genotype, which was 7.87 times more common in patients (P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Polymorphisms of VEGF could potentially play a role in pathogenesis of GBM, as the allele and genotype distributions of rs3025039 and rs2010963 SNPs were significantly associated with GBM occurrence.

KEY WORDS: Glioblastoma; Vascular endothelial growth factors; Polymorphism, single nucleotide