Prevalence of estrogen receptor α PvuII and XbaI polymorphism in population of Polish postmenopausal women

Numerous data indicate that polymorphism of estrogen receptor α (ERα) may predict lipid levels, lipid response to hormone replacement therapy (HRT), myocardial infarction risk, bone fracture risk, bone mineral density (BMD) and changes in BMD over time. In this study we aimed to evaluate distribution of ERα PvuII and XbaI genotypes in population of Polish postmenopausal women qualified to different protocols of HRT. Subject of the study were 64 consecutive postmenopausal women aged from 45 to 65 years (mean 56.6) assigned to HRT. ERα PvuII and XbaI polymorphism was determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The absence of PvuII and XbaI restriction sites were indicated by "P" and "X" and presence by "p" and "x", respectively. PvuII genotype was distributed as follows: PP 17.2% (n=11), Pp 50% (n=32), pp 32.83% (n=21). Frequency of XbaI genotype was: XX 6.25% (n=4), Xx 34.4% (n=22), xx 59.4% (n=38). Four haplotypes with following frequencies were recognized: PX 17.3%, px 47.4%, Px 24.4% and pX 10.9%. Prevalence of estrogen receptor α PvuII and XbaI polymorphisms in Polish women is similar to previously studied population.