In a recent study titled “Association Between Adiponectin Polymorphisms and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer”, published in Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, a team of researchers from Harbin Medical University, China, have analyzed the link between two adiponectin (ADIPOQ) gene polymorphisms, rs2241766 and rs1501299, and the risk of colorectal cancer.
Adiponectin is a collagen-like protein secreted by fat cells, and has been linked to colorectal cancer in previous scientific studies. It is encoded by the ADIPOQ gene, which contains several susceptibility loci for metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers.
Even though previous data has shown an association between certain genetic polymorphisms in the ADIPOQ gene and colorectal cancer risk, the authors wanted to clarify this correlation in the Chinese population.
As such, they analyzed 600 cases of primary and new colorectal cancer patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University between July 2008 and May 2013, and designed a case-control study to understand the link between the rs2241766 and rs1501299 polymorphisms and colorectal cancer occurrence.
Furthermore, the authors also investigated the correlation between these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and environmental factors in colorectal cancer pathogenesis.
Patients were aged between 28 to 77 years, with a total of 402 cases of colorectal cancer and 198 cases of colon cancer.
Both ADIPOQ gene polymorphisms have three different genotypes after enzymatic digestion: homozygous wild-type TT, homozygous mutant GG and heterozygous TG for rs2241766; and homozygous wild-type GG, homozygous mutant TT and heterozygous GT for rs1501299.
The results showed that the rs2241766 TG+GG genotype frequency was higher in cancer patients than in the control group. Inversely, the rs1501299 GT+TT genotype frequency was lower in cancer patients than in healthy controls.
Subjects who carried an rs2241766 TG+GG polymorphism had a higher risk of colorectal cancer than those with an rs2241766 homozygous wild-type TT.
Furthermore, rs1501299 GT+TT carriers had a lower risk of colorectal cancer when compared with rs1501299 homozygous GG.
Additionally, the authors found significant correlations between lifestyle habits, diet, and colorectal cancer occurrence risk. While regular tea drinking was a protective factor for colorectal cancer, daily sedentary time, weekly red meat intake and colorectal cancer family history were all accountable risks for colorectal cancer development.
Despite these relevant findings, the authors believe that “the association between ADIPOQ rs2241766 and rs1501299 polymorphisms and colorectal cancer still needs verification through large-sample studies”.
