Association study between SNPs in MST1 and MST2 genes and H. pylori infection as well as non-cardia gastric carcinogenesis.

Introduction Gastric cancer (GC) remains a global health challenge, and H. pylori infection is a main risk factor for non-cardia GC. The present study aimed to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1 (MST1) and MST2, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, and the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer (GC). Methods A case-control study was conducted using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Taqman method to detect the titer of anti-H. pylori antibody in normal human serum and genotype 9 SNPs of MST1 and MST2 genes among 808 samples. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between SNPs and H. pylori infection, as well as the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer in codominant, dominant, overdominant, recessive, and log-additive genetic models. Haplotypes were constructed using the Haploview 4.2 software. Results The CC genotype of MST2 SNP rs10955176 was associated with a reduced risk of H. pylori infection compared to the TT+CT genotype. None of other SNPs were associated with H. pylori infection. The TT genotype of MST2 SNP rs7827435 was associated with a reduced risk of non-cardia gastric cancer compared to the AA+AT genotype. None of the SNPs were associated with non-cardia gastric cancer. There were no associations between haplotypes and H. pylori infection or the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer. Conclusions The CC genotype of rs10955176 and the TT genotype of rs7827435 may serve as protective factors against H. pylori infection and non-cardia gastric cancer risk, respectively.

Activation of AIM2 by hepatitis B virus results in antiviral immunity that suppresses hepatitis C virus during coinfection.

IMPORTANCE: Clinical data suggest that Hepatitis C virus (HCV) levels are generally lower in Hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infected patients, but the mechanism is unknown. Here, we show that HBV, but not HCV, activated absent in melanoma-2. This in turn results in inflammasome-mediated cleavage of pro-IL-18, leading to an innate immune activation cascade that results in increased interferon-γ, suppressing both viruses.

Association analysis between SNPs in LATS1 and LATS2 and non-cardia gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have found that large tumor suppressor kinase 1 (LATS1) and LATS2 play important roles in many diseases, but studies have been rare on the relationship between these genes and non-cardia gastric cancer (GC). We performed a case-control association study to investigate the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in LATS1 and LATS2 genes and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection as well as the risk of non-cardia GC. METHODS: First, H. pylori infection was determined by the serological test using enzyme-linked immunoassay. Then genotyping of SNPs was performed for 808 samples by the Taqman method. Finally, unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for age and gender, for the association of each SNP with the infection of H. pylori, the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer, as well as the expression of LATS1 and LATS2 proteins in non-cardia GC tissues, using the codominant, dominant, recessive, overdominant, and log-additive inheritance models, respectively. RESULTS: The statistical results showed that LATS2 rs9552315 was associated with H. pylori infection, and the CC + CT genotype could reduce the risk of H. pylori infection (odds ratio [OR]: 0.549, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.339-0.881, P < 0.05) compared with the TT genotype in a dominant model. LATS1 rs9393175 was associated with the risk of non-cardia GC, and the AG genotype reduced the risk of non-cardia GC (OR: 0.702, 95% CI: 0.516-0.952, P < 0.05) compared with the GG + AA genotype in an overdominant model. LATS2 rs9509492 was associated with the risk of GC in an log-additive model. No associations were found between five SNPs and expression of LATS1 and LATS2 proteins in non-cardia GC tissue. CONCLUSIONS: LATS2 rs9552315 CT genotype may be a protective factor against infection of H. pylori. LATS1 rs9393175 AG genotype and LATS2 rs9509492 GG genotype may be protective factors for non-cardia GC.