Polymeric immunoglobulin receptor polymorphisms and risk of nasopharyngeal cancer

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is an important squamous cell cancer endemic in Southeast Asia and the Far East and can be considered a multifactorial genetic disease. This research explores potential associations between nasopharyngeal epithelial EBV receptor and NPC susceptibility. To prove the hypothesis, we evaluated two candidate genes, complement receptor 2 (CR2) and polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (PIGR) by using 4 SNPs, CR2IVS2-848C→T, PIGRIVS3-156G→T, PIGR1093G→A and PIGR1739C→T, to genotype 175 cases and 317 controls, divided into Thai, Chinese and Thai-Chinese based on their respective ethnic origins. RESULTS: The results obtained indicated that PIGR is an NPC susceptibility gene. The risk association pertaining to each ethnic group was detected for homozygous PIGR1739C with a significant ethnic group adjusted OR (95%CI) of 2.71(1.72–4.23) and p < 0.00001. Haplotype of the two missense PIGR SNPs, 1093G→A and 1739C→T, and sequence analyses have confirmed the role of the nucleotide PIGR1739 and excluded possibility of an additional significant nonsynonymous NPC susceptibility SNP. CONCLUSIONS: We present genetic evidence leading to hypothesize a possibility of PIGR to function as the EBV nasopharyngeal epithelium receptor via IgA-EBV complex transcytosis failure. The PIGR1739C→T is a missense mutation changing alanine to valine near endoproteolytic cleavage site. This variant could alter the efficiency of PIGR to release IgA-EBV complex and consequently increase the susceptibility of populations in endemic areas to develop NPC

Cytochrome P450 2E1 polymorphism and nasopharyngeal carcinoma development in Thailand: a correlative study

BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare tumor in most parts of the world but occurs at relatively high frequency among people of Chinese descent. The cytochrome P450 2E1 enzyme (CYP2E1) is responsible for the metabolic activation of nitrosamines, and has been shown to be a susceptibility gene for NPC development in Taiwan [RR = 2.6; 95%CI = 1.2-5.7]. Since there has been only one report of this link, it was decided to investigate the susceptibility of CYP2E1 to NPC development in other populations. Therefore, the correlation between the RsaI polymorphism of this gene and NPC was studied in-patients including Thai and Chinese in Thailand. The present study comprised 217 cases diagnosed with NPC and 297 healthy controls. RESULTS: Similar to the result found in Taiwanese, a homozygous uncut genotype demonstrated a higher relative risk both when all cases were analyzed [RR = 2.19; 95%CI = 0.62-8.68] or individual racial groups, Thai [RR = 1.51; 95%CI = 0.08-90.06] or Chinese [RR = 1.99; 95%CI = 0.39-10.87]. The ethnicity-adjusted odds ratio is 2.39 with 95%CI, 0.72-7.89. CONCLUSIONS: Though our finding was not statistically significant due to the moderate sample size of the study, similarity to the study in Taiwan with only a slight loss in precision was demonstrated. The higher RR found for the same genotype in distinct populations confirmed that CYP2E1 is one of several NPC susceptibility genes and that the RsaI minus variant is one mutation that affects phenotype

Canalith Repositioning for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

We assessed the efficacy of the canalith repositioning maneuver by comparing it with no treatment in a population of patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). In this randomized, controlled, 6-month efficacy trial, outcomes were measured subjectively by patients’ reports of symptom status and objectively by Hallpike testing. During the first month of the study, the treated group experienced significantly better outcomes than did the control group, but this trend was not sustained at 3 and 6 months. </jats:p

Lingual Osseous Choristoma: A Study of Eight Cases and Review of the Literature

A choristoma is a tumor-like mass of normal tissue in an “abnormal” location. Lingual osseous choristoma, previously known as osteoma of the tongue, is a rare entity: we found documentation of eight cases at our center during the 10-year period between 1987 and 1996. These cases were analyzed along with 50 others reported in the English language literature between 1913 and 1996. Lingual osseous choristoma frequently occurs during the third and fourth decades of life, and predominantly affects women (81 %). Most of the osseous choristomas in our review were located in the posterior third of the tongue, primarily at or close to the foramen cecum or circumvallate papillae (87.9%). While 39.7% of the patients were asymptomatic, the remaining patients complicated of symptoms including a lump in the throat (25.8%), dysphagia (6.9%), gagging (5.1%), nausea (3.4%) and irritation (3.4%). Treatment of lingual osseous choristoma consists of simple excision. The tumor's origin has been discussed elsewhere. </jats:p

Supplementary Tables 1-4 from Global Gene Expression Profile of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma by Laser Capture Microdissection and Complementary DNA Microarrays

Supplementary Tables 1-4 from Global Gene Expression Profile of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma by Laser Capture Microdissection and Complementary DNA Microarray