Immunization Associated with Erectile Dysfunction Based on Cross-Sectional and Genetic Analyses

Abstract

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a global disease affecting a large number of people. Some studies have found a relationship between low-grade inflammation and ED. We hypothesized that the immune system might play a key role in the outcome of ED. Five immune agents (C3, C4, IgA, IgM, and IgG) were collected based on the Fangchenggang Area Male Health and Examination Survey (FAMHES), using methods of a traditional cross-sectional analysis. Our results repeated the significant association between ED and metabolic syndrome, obesity, and so forth. However, there seemed to be no positive relation between the tested indexes and ED risk in the baseline analysis (C3: P = 0.737; C4: P = 0.274; IgA: P = 0.943; IgG: P = 0.069; IgM: P = 0.985). Then, after adjusting for age and multivariate covariates, a potentially significant association between ED and IgG was discovered (P = 0.025 and P = 0.034, respectively). Meanwhile, in order to describe the development of ED on a gene level, SNP–set kernel-machine association test (SKAT) was applied with the known humoral immune genes involved. The outcomes suggested that PTAFR (binary P value: 0.0096; continuous P value: 0.00869), IL27 (0.0029; 0.1954), CD37 (0.0248; 0.5196), CD40 (0.7146; 0.0413), IL7R (0.1223; 0.0222), PSMB9 (0.1237; 0.0212), and CXCR3 (0.0849; 0.0478) might be key genes in ED, especially IL27, when we restricted the family-wise error rate (FWER) to 0.5. Our study shows that IgG and seven genes (PTAFR, CD37, CD40, IL7R, PSMB9, CXCR3, and especially IL27) might be key factors in the pathogenesis of ED, which could pave the way for future gene and immune therapies.

Screening and identification of critical biomarkers in erectile dysfunction: evidence from bioinformatic analysis

“…A study about five immune agents (IgG, IgM, IgA, C4, and C3) was collected on the basis of the Fangchenggang Area Male Health and Examination Survey (FAMHES)and methods of traditional cross-sectional analysis were used. However, there was no clear relationship between ED risk in the baseline analyses and the tested indexes (C3: P = 0.737) (Chen et al, 2014). Another study on sexual dysfunction in male schizophrenia showed that correlation between two polymorphisms in the genes for the DRD2 and scores on questionnaires for erectile and sexual dysfunction were studied.…”

Multi-factors including Inflammatory/Immune, Hormones, Tumor-related Proteins and Nutrition associated with Chronic Prostatitis NIH IIIa+b and IV based on FAMHES project

“…As described in our previous studies 27 , 28 , the FAMHES project was carried out from September to December 2009, and involved a routine physical examination at the Medical Center in Fangchenggang First People’s Hospital. The sample comprised 4303 non-institutionalized Chinese men aged 17 to 88 years old, who were from the Fangchenggang area of Guangxi, China.…”

“…The blood samples were centrifuged within 15–25 min, and stored at −80 °C. Further details are available in our previous reports 27 – 29 .…”

Serum Homocysteine Concentration Is Significantly Associated with Inflammatory/Immune Factors

“…After a comprehensive demographic and health survey, data from 3593 participants in the form of interviews were collected. The response rate was 83.5% [ 24 ]. Written informed consent was obtained for all participants and their guardians.…”

“…The C3 , C4 , CRP , IgA , IgM , and IgG levels were detected with electrochemiluminescence immunoassays and immunoturbidimetric methods. All details were presented in our previous publications [ 23 – 24 , 27 ].…”