Klotho Polymorphisms and Priapism In Sickle Cell Disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a monogenic disorder with phenotypic heterogeneity, possibly determined by polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes whose products modify the pathophysiology of the disease. Priapism is one of the most common vaso-occlusive complications of SCD, and it occurred in more than 30% of males. The Klotho (KL) gene appears to be associated with vascular function and nitric oxide biology and the presence of SNPs could affect its function. Association between KL and priapism in SCD patients was suggested by Nolan et al. in 2004. However, other authors could not confirm this finding (Elliot et al., 2007).

We decided to evaluate the relevance of SNPs rs2249358, rs211234 and rs9536314 to the occurrence of priapism in patients with SCD followed at Outpatient clinic at Escola Paulista de Medicina/UNIFESP.

Forty male patients with SCD were enrolled, 39 (97.5%) with sickle cell anemia (SS) and one (2.5%) SC hemoglobinopathy. The manifestation of priapism was identified through analyses of medical records. The SNP rs2249358 was identified by PCR followed by restriction with XbaI. The other SNPs, rs211234 and rs9536314, were analyzed by allele specific PCR. Statistical analysis: t test, Chi² or Fisher. This study was approved by Ethical Committee, and all patients agreed in participate.

The median age of the patient was 28.5 years-old (20-68 y.o.). Fourteen out of 40 patients had priapism (35%), each one with SS disease. The group of patients with priapism were older (32.5 y.o., 25–68 y.o.) than the group without this manifestation (27.5 y.o., 20–56 y.o.) (p=0.03). There was no statistical difference in the distribution of the SNPs rs211234 and rs9536314 between the two groups of patients (p=0.51 and p= 0.09, respectively). Regarding the distribution of SNP rs2249358, the group with priapism presented 8 individuals (57.1%) with GG genotype, 5 (35.7%) with AA and 1 (7.17%) with AG, whereas in the group without priapism, the distribution was different: 5 (19.2%) with GG, 7 (26.9%) with AA and 14 (53.8%) with AG genotype (p=0.0212). When we compare the presence of at least one A allele (AA or A-) with the G allele in homozygosis (GG), we observed that the A allele has a protector effect (OR: 0.1786; CI: 0.04232–0.7535) (p=0.031).

In a relatively small group of patients with SCD, it was observed a significant proportion of individuals with priapism, which reinforces the importance of this manifestation. We also observed correlation between SNP rs2249358 of KL gene and priapism, as suggested previously.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.