Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate whether the -604T>C, 1192G>A, and 1719A>T polymorphisms in the kinase insert domain-containing receptor (KDR) gene confer risk for premature ovarian failure (POF) in Korean women.
Methods: DNA samples from 133 POF patients and 230 controls were genotyped for the three KDR single nucleotide polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.
Results: The POF patients had significantly increased frequencies of the KDR -604TC and -604TC + CC genotypes (odds ratio [OR], 1.975; 95% CI, 1.219-3.201 and OR, 1.948; 95% CI, 1.221-3.109, respectively) and of the -604TC + CC/1192GG combined genotype (OR, 2.271; 95% CI, 1.359-3.795) and a decreased frequency of the 1192GA genotype (OR, 0.457; 95% CI, 0.231-0.905) compared with the controls. The genotype frequency of the 1719A>T polymorphism was not significantly different between the two groups. The frequencies of the KDR -604C/1192G/1719T, -604C/1192G, and -604C/1719T haplotypes (OR, 3.319; 95% CI, 1.564-7.041; OR, 2.083; 95% CI, 1.351-3.212; and OR, 1.979; 95% CI, 1.073-3.649, respectively) were significantly higher among POF patients than controls, whereas the -604T/1719T haplotype frequency (OR, 0.657; 95% CI, 0.472-0.915) was lower among POF patients.
Conclusions: Carriers of the KDR -604C variant allele (-604TC and -604TC + CC genotypes; -604TC + CC/1192GG combined genotype; -604C/1192G/1719T haplotype, -604C/1192G haplotype, -604C/1719T haplotype) are consistently more prevalent among POF patients than among controls, suggesting that the KDR -604C allele may increase the risk of POF development in Korean women.