[Polymorphism of catechol-O-methyltransferase gene in relation to the risk of endometrial cancer].

OBJECTIVE: The 4- and 16-hydroxylated metabolites of estrogens have been implicated in carcinogenesis, whereas its 2-hydroxylated metabolites have been shown to have antiangiogenic effects. We aimed to examine whether the polymorphisms of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) involved in the estrogen metabolism are associated with endometrial cancer risk. METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction-restrictive fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was used to study the variant allele frequency distributions of COMT Val158Met genetic polymorphism in a population based case-control study with 132 endometrial cancer cases and 110 controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by unconditional logistic regression after adjustment for known or suspected risk factors for endometrial cancer. RESULTS: The most frequent genotype was COMT(Val/Val) (47.2%, 52/110) in control group and COMT(Val/Met) (58.3%, 77/132) in endometrial cancer group. The difference between the two groups was of statistical significance (P < 0.05). Compared with COMT(Met/Met) genotype, the COMT(Val/Val) genotype was inversely correlated with endometrial cancer risk, and the adjusted OR value was 0.262 (95% CI: 0.080 - 0.862, P = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: Among the genotypes in women in South China, genotype COMT(Val/Val) is mostly seen, followed by COMT(Val/Met), and COMT(Met/Met) is the least in control group. The endometrial cancer susceptivity of genotype COMT(Val/Val) carriers may be lower than COMT(Met/Met) carriers.

Effects of hormone replacement therapy on platelet activation in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on platelet activation in postmenopausal women compared with premenopausal women. METHODS: The expressions of CD41 and CD62P in fifteen postmenopausal women before and after HRT were detected using flow cytometry (FCM), with fifteen premenopausal women with a mean age of 47 years as controls. RESULTS: The expressions of CD41 and CD62P in postmenopausal women were higher than those in the control group. CD62P(%), CD62P(I) and CD41 were reduced from 36.40 +/- 5.9, 37.75 +/- 5.8, and 470.11 +/- 74.0 to 27.97 +/- 5.6, 26.64 +/- 4.9, and 303.23 +/- 72.8 after six months of HRT (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Platelet activation in postmenopausal women was higher than in premenopausal women and was reduced significantly after six months of HRT. HRT may have a favorable effect on reduction of platelet activity.