Investigation of GSTP1 and epigenetic regulators expression pattern in a population of Iranian patient with prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Prostate cancer is the leading cause of death in many countries. It is important to diagnose the disease in the early stages. Current methods detect the disease with low specificity. Examining the expression of genes responsible for disease and their epigenetic regulators are good tools in this regard.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, 40 Iranian patients with cancer, 40 Iranian patients with prostate hyperplasia, and 40 control samples were examined. After blood sampling from each individual, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, GSTP1, HDAC, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B expressions were measured in three understudy groups using specific primers and Real-Time PCR method.

RESULTS: A reverse correlation was identified between loss of GSTP1 expression and overexpression of HDAC, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B (P value < 0.0001) with a beneficial pattern of cancer development with high efficiency. The significant decrease of GSTP1 expression in patients in comparison to the healthy controls and the elevated expression levels of the studied epigenetic regulators in PCA and BPH samples indicate the impact of the regulators on GSTP1 expression activity.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that the measurement of combined GSTP1 and its epigenetic regulators' expression could be used as suitable genetic markers for the detection and separation of healthy individuals from prostatic patient groups in the Iranian population. However, a similar study in a larger population of case and control could help us to distinguish between normal, benign, and malignant conditions.