New insights into the expression of androgen and estrogen receptors of the appendix testis in congenital cryptorchidism
-
Xenophon Sinopidis
,
Antonios Panagidis
Abstract
Background
The appendix testis (AT) is the most common vestigial remnant of the human testis. Variations in the presence and expression of AT androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER) have been reported in cryptorchidism. We studied the possible association of AR and ER expression of the AT with cryptorchidism.
Methods
ATs were resected from 40 boys who underwent inguinoscrotal surgery, (20 patients with congenital unilateral cryptorchidism [UC] and 20 controls with orthotopic testes and hydrocele). AR and ER expression was evaluated with immunohistochemistry, and the percentage and intensity of AR and ER expression were evaluated by the Allred scoring method. AT length was compared between the two groups. Correlation of AR and ER expression was evaluated independently in patients and controls.
Results
The Allred score for AR trended toward lower values in UC compared to controls (p = 0.193), while ER scores presented statistically significant lower values in UC compared to controls (p = 0.017). No significant difference or trend was found in the expression of both receptors between high and low cryptorchidism (p = 0.981 for AR, p = 0.824 for ER) and for the appendiceal length between UC and controls (p = 0.369).
Conclusions
The findings of a trend for lower AR expression and a statistically significant lower expression of ER in UC may suggest an association of AR and ER with cryptorchidism and may provide an insight into the process of testicular descent.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: This research was funded by the University of Patras, School of Medicine, Patras, Greece.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Prevalence of obesity and overweight in Iranian students: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Original Articles
- Trends in pediatric obesity management, a survey from the Pediatric Endocrine Society Obesity Committee
- Utility of MR proton density fat fraction and its correlation with ultrasonography and biochemical markers in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in overweight adolescents
- Vitamin D status and its relation to insulin resistance in a Mexican pediatric population
- Elevated serum uric acid, hyperuricaemia and dietary patterns among adolescents in mainland China
- Is there a relationship between the dietary inflammatory index and metabolic syndrome among adolescents?
- New insights into the expression of androgen and estrogen receptors of the appendix testis in congenital cryptorchidism
- General properties of autoimmune thyroid diseases and associated morbidities
- Comparison of leptin levels in neonates born to mothers with high or low gestational weight gain
- Percentile values of serum zinc concentration and prevalence of its deficiency in Iranian children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-V study
- Nine-year overview of dyslipidemia management in children with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: a university hospital outpatient lipid clinic project in Northwestern Greece
- Gesell Developmental Schedules scores and the relevant factors in children with Down syndrome
- Letters to the Editor
- Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR) Child Abuse Committee response regarding Miller, Stolfi and Ayoub’s flawed theories about child abuse and metabolic bone disease
- Reply of Miller and Ayoub to Brown et al. Letter to the Editor
- Case Reports
- Identification of two novel variants in GAA underlying infantile-onset Pompe disease in two Pakistani families
- Hereditary vitamin D-resistant rickets: a report of four cases with two novel variants in the VDR gene and successful use of intermittent intravenous calcium via a peripheral route
- Variant analysis of HPD genes from two families showing elevated tyrosine upon newborn screening by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS)
- Challenges in the management of an ignored cause of hyperammonemic encephalopathy: pyruvate carboxylase deficiency
- Autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type II with co-manifestation of Addison’s and Graves’ disease in a 15-year-old boy: case report and literature review
