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BACKGROUND/AIM The family of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) controls homeostasis of the extracellular matrix and their genetic polymorphisms may be associated with personal cancer susceptibility. The serum levels of MMP8 was reported to be higher in patients with breast cancer than in healthy individuals. In this study, we aimed to investigate the contribution of a polymorphism in the promoter region of MMP8 (-799C/T) and two nonsynonymous polymorphisms (Val436Ala and Lys460Thr) to breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS MMP8 -799C/T, Val436Ala and Lys460Thr polymorphic genotypes were determined for 1,232 patients with breast cancer and 1,232 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methodology. RESULTS The odds ratios (ORs) after adjusting for age, gender, smoking and alcohol drinking status for those carrying CT and TT genotypes at the MMP8 promoter C-799T were 1.03 (95% CI=0.88-1.23, p=0.7475) and 1.08 (95% CI=0.91-1.53, p=0.3561), respectively, compared to those carrying the wild-type CC genotype. The OR for the combined T-bearing genotypes were of a similar non-significant level (OR=1.05, 95% CI=0.90-1.26, p=0.5176). Supporting this finding, the adjusted OR for those carrying the T allele at MMP8 C-799T was 1.05 (95% CI=0.86-1.21, p=0.3797), compared to those carrying the wild-type C allele. There was also no significant association of MMP8 Lys460Thr with breast cancer. There was no polymorphic genotype at MMP8 Val436Ala found among any of the investigated individuals. CONCLUSION MMP8 -799C/T, Val436Ala and Lys460Thr polymorphisms may only play an indirect role in determining personal cancer susceptibility to breast cancer in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND/AIM Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBS1) is a component of MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 complex (MRN) that plays a critical role in the cellular response to DNA damage and maintenance of chromosomal integrity. Failure in DNA damage response affects the level of cell survival, increases the frequency of gene mutation or chromosomal instability and other cellular phenotypic abnormalities, which are the important mechanisms of carcinogenesis. However, the contribution of variant NBS1 genotypes to lung cancer is not known. The current study aimed to evaluate the contribution of the common variant NBS1 Glu185Gln (rs1805794, E185Q) genotypes to the risk of lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS The contributions of the NBS1 Glu185Gln genotypes to lung cancer risk were investigated among 358 patients with lung cancer and 716 age- and gender-matched healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS GG, CG and CC NBS1 Glu185Gln genotype percentages were 45.2%, 43.9% and 10.9% in the patient group and 46.1%, 45.1% and 8.8% in the non-cancer control group, respectively (p for trend=0.5423). Analysis of allelic frequency distributions showed that the C allele of NBS1 Glu185Gln did not increase lung cancer susceptibility (p=0.4916). Interestingly, the CC genotypes at NBS1 Glu185Gln enhanced the risk of lung cancer among the males adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=1.85, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.12-2.83 and among the smokers (aOR=1.76, 95% CI=1.09-2.64) but not among the females and non-smokers. CONCLUSION The CC genotype of NBS1 Glu185Gln may increase lung cancer risk only for males and smokers and may serve as a practical marker for early detective and predictive purposes of lung cancer.

Ultraviolet B (UVB), with a wavelength of 280-320 nm, represents one of the most important environmental factors for skin disorders, including sunburn, hyperpigmentation, solar keratosis, solar elastosis and skin cancer. Therefore, protection against excessive UVA-induced damage is useful for prevention of sunburn and other human diseases. Baicalin, a major component of traditional Chinese medicine Scutellaria baicalensis, has been reported to possess antioxidant and cytostatic capacities. In this study, we examined whether baicalin is also capable of protecting human keratinocytes from UVB irradiation. The results showed that baicalin effectively scavenged reactive oxygen species (ROS) elevated within 4 h after UVB radiation and reversed the UVB-suppressed cell viability and UVB-induced apoptosis after 24 h. Our results demonstrated the utility of baicalin to complement the contributions of traditional Chinese medicine in UVB-induced damage to skin and suggested their potential application as pharmaceutical agents in long-term sun-shining injury prevention.

The DNA-repair gene X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) is important in DNA double-strand break repair and plays a critical part in initiation of carcinogenesis. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most difficult breast cancer subtype with no existing gene-targeting drugs and little knowledge on its genetic etiology. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of the XRCC3 genotype to individual TNBC susceptibility.A total of 2,464 Taiwan citizens consisting of 1,232 breast cancer cases and 1,232 controls were enrolled in this case-control study, and genotyping of XRCC3 rs1799794, rs45603942, rs861530, rs3212057, rs1799796, rs861539 and rs28903081 were performed with polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). We also conducted risk-stratified sub-group analyses to determine the association between the genotype and age- and hormone-related characteristics of breast cancer sub-groups.There was no significant difference between breast cancer and control groups in the distributions of the genotypic or allelic frequencies as for the XRCC3 rs1799794 (p=0.5195 and 0.9545), rs45603942 (p=0.3478 and 0.1449), rs861530 (p=0.4567 and 0.5081), rs3212057 (p=1.0000 and 1.0000), rs1799796 (p=0.8487 and 0.7315) and rs28903081 (p=1.0000 and 1.0000), respectively. However, the XRCC3 rs861539 TT genotype was more prevalent in patients with breast cancer [odds ratio (OR)=2.99, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.62-5.55; p=0.0002], and especially among those who were younger than 55 years (OR=2.61, 95% CI=1.82-3.73; p=0.0001), with first menarche earlier than 12.2 years (OR=2.47, 95% CI=1.74-3.52; p=0.0001), with menopause at 49.0 years old or later (OR=2.53, 95% CI=1.76-3.62; p=0.0001), or with TNBC (OR=2.05, 95% CI=1.46-4.28; p=4.63*10(-4)).XRCC3 rs861539 TT is a potential predictive marker for TNBC in Taiwanese women and investigations in other populations are warranted for further universal application in cancer detection and prediction.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) is a typical pleiotropic T helper 2 cytokine involved in immunology during carcinogenesis. The present study aimed at evaluating the contribution of IL-4 promoter T-1099G (rs2243248), C-589T (rs2243250), C-33T (rs2070874) genetic polymorphisms to the risk of lung cancer in Taiwan.The contributions of the promoter IL-4 polymorphic genotypes to lung cancer risk were investigated in 358 lung cancer patients and 716 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. In addition, the interaction between IL-4 and individual smoking status was also evaluated.The percentages of CC, CT and TT for IL-4 C-589T genotypes were differentially represented as 69.0%, 26.5% and 4.5% in the lung-cancer patient group and 61.3%, 30.4% and 8.3% in the non-cancer control group, respectively (p=0.0156). The TT genotype carriers were of lower risk for lung cancer (odds ratio (OR)=0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.27-0.86, p=0.0106) than the CC genotype carriers. We also analyzed the allelic frequency distributions and the results showed that the T allele of IL-4 C-589T conducted a protective effect on lung cancer susceptibility (p=0.0022). On the contrary, there was no difference in the distribution of genotypic or allelic frequencies among patients and controls for the IL-4 promoter T-1099G and C-33T.The TT genotype of IL-4 C-589T compared to the CC wild-type genotype may have a protective effect on lung cancer risk in Taiwan and may serve as an early detection and prediction marker.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the fifth most common cancer worldwide, has high prevalence and mortality rates in Taiwan. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), an important proinflammatory cytokine, is involved in multiple physiological and pathogenic phenomena that lead to the destruction and dysregulation of tissues. The present study aimed to evaluate the contribution of TNFA genotype, together with cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking lifestyle to the risk of HCC.In this hospital-based case-control study, association of TNFA single-nucleotide polymorphisms -1031T/C, -863C/A, -857T/C, -308G/A and +489A/G, with HCC risk were examined in 298 patients with HCC and 889 age- and gender-matched healthy controls.The percentages of AA, AG and GG TNFA -308G/A were 6.4%, 18.1% and 75.5% in the HCC patient group and 2.0%, 16.0% and 82.0% in the non-cancer control group, respectively. The AA and AG genotypes were associated with 3.42- and 1.23-fold higher odds of HCC than the GG genotype (95% confidence interval=1.76-6.63 and 0.87-1.74, respectively). No such significant difference was found for other polymorphic sites. We further stratified the populations by gender, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking status to investigate their combined contributions with TNFA -308G/A genotype to HCC risk. The results showed that the AA and AG genotypes of TNFA -308G/A increased HCC susceptibility which was obvious among males, smokers, and alcohol drinkers, but not females, non-smokers, or non-drinkers (p=0.0003, 0.0003, 0.0014, 0.6127, 0.7442 and 0.3010, respectively).Our results suggest that the AA and AG polymorphism of TNFA -308G/A genotypes associated with HCC risk in Taiwan, particularly among males, smokers and alcohol drinkers.

The present study aimed at investigating whether X-ray repair cross complementing protein 3 (XRCC3) genotype may serve as a useful marker for detecting leiomyoma and predicting risk.A total of 640 women (166 patients with leiomyoma and 474 healthy controls) were examined for their XRCC3 rs1799794, rs45603942, rs861530, rs3212057, rs1799796, rs861539, rs28903081 genotype. The distributions of genotypic and allelic frequencies between the two groups were compared.The results showed that the CT and TT genotypes of XRCC3 rs861539 were associated with increased leiomyoma risk (odds ratio=2.19, 95% confidence interval=1.23-3.90; odds ratio=3.72, 95% confidence interval=1.23-11.26, respectively). On allelic frequency analysis, we found a significant difference in the distribution of the T allelic frequency of the XRCC3 rs861539 (p=5.88 × 10(-5)). None of the other six single nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with altered leiomyoma susceptibility.The T allele (CT and TT genotypes) of XRCC3 rs861539 contributes to increased risk of leiomyoma among Taiwanese women and may serve as a early detection and predictive marker.

Long-term exposure to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation can cause multiple skin disorders, including skin cancer. Protection against UV-induced damage is, therefore, a worldwide concern. Baicalin, a major component of traditional Chinese medicine Scutellaria baicalensis, has been reported to have antioxidant and cytostatic effects on normal epithelial and normal peripheral blood and myeloid cells. In the current study, we examined whether baicalin could also effectively protect human keratinocytes from damaging short-wave UVC irradiation. Baicalin-scavenged reactive oxygen species increased within 2 h after UVC radiation. Baicalin also abrogated UVC-induced apoptosis. In addition, we identified the major products after UVC radiation with T4 UV endonuclease, finding that baicalin prevented cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer formation induced by UVC. Furthermore, baicalin also prevented formation of oxidative adducts induced by UVC. Our results demonstrated the utility of baicalin in assessing the potential contribution of traditional Chinese medicinal agents in therapy of UVC-induced genomic damage to skin and suggest potential application of these agents as pharmaceuticals in prevention of solar-induced skin damage.