Metabolism of androgens includes glucuronidation, the major pathway of steroid elimination in several steroid target tissues. Glucuronidation is catalysed by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs). UGT2B17 has been shown to be particularly active against androgens and is highly abundant in the prostate. Recently, we discovered that deletion of the UGT2B17 gene is associated with low or undetectable urinary testosterone levels. Here, we determined the phenotypic outcome of the deletion by quantifying the UGT2B17 mRNA expression in normal prostate tissues in individuals with different genotypes. Additionally, the frequency of UGT2B17 deletion polymorphism was studied in a Swedish population-based case-control study including 176 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and 161 controls. We found that the individuals homozygous for the insertion allele expressed 30 times more UGT2B17 mRNA in prostate tissue than the heterozygotes. Carriers of the deletion allele had a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer (OR ¼ 2.07; 95% CI ¼ 1.32-3.25). In conclusion, these results show the UGT2B17 deletion polymorphism is associated with prostate cancer risk.

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Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were developed for direct measurement of protein HC‐IgA complexes (HC‐IgA) in serum with antibody specificity for rabbit IgG (rheumatoid factor (RF) activity), lipopolysaccharide from Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3 (Y3) and tetanus toxoid (TT). About 80% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis had increased concentrations of HC‐IgA‐RF. The values were correlated with the concentrations of IgA‐RF and IgM‐RF. HC‐IgA anti‐Y3 was measured in 45 sera with anti‐Y3 antibodies of IgM, IgG and IgA class. The HC‐IgA anti‐Y3 levels were correlated with those of anti‐Y3 of IgG and IgM class, but not of IgA class. For HC‐IgA anti‐Y3, the closest correlation was that with the specific IgM antibody concentration, rs= 0.63 (p < 0.001). In 25 normal sera, significant correlations were observed between HC‐IgA anti‐TT and specific antibodies of IgG and IgA class, but not of IgM class. In 107 sera containing IgA M‐components, the total concentration of HC‐IgA correlated poorly with both protein HC and with IgA concentrations. It was concluded that specific HC‐IgA antibodies are normal constituents of serum, and that their concentrations are not directly related to the serum content of specific IgA antibodies.