Meta-analysis of three polymorphisms in the steroid-5-alpha-reductase, alpha polypeptide 2 gene (SRD5A2) and risk of prostate cancer

The steroid-5-alpha-reductase, alpha polypeptide 2 (SRD5A2) gene plays a crucial role in androgen metabolism pathway in human prostate. It encodes SRD5A2 enzyme, which catalyses testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is the main active structure binding with androgen receptor (AR). After the activation of AR, it further regulates a series of target genes in androgen metabolism pathway. However, no clear consensus has been reached on the association between the SRD5A2 V89L, A49T and TA repeat polymorphisms and prostate cancer (PCa) risk. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis of 31 association studies with 14 726 PCa cases and 15 802 controls. We found no association between PCa and 89L compared with 89Vallele [odds ratio (OR)5 1.02, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.98– 1.06, Pheterogeneity 5 0.44]. The 49T allele showed a signifi