The RANKL rs12585014 polymorphism is associated with age at menarche in postmenopausal women with hip fracture

Association of the Sp1 binding site and -1997 promoter variations in COL1A1 with osteoporosis risk: The application of meta-analysis and bioinformatics approaches offers a new perspective for future research

As a complex disease, osteoporosis is influenced by several genetic markers. Many studies have examined the link between the Sp1 binding site +1245 G > T (rs1800012) and -1997 G > T (rs1107946) variations in the COL1A1 gene with osteoporosis risk. However, the findings of these studies have been contradictory; therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to aggregate additional information and obtain increased statistical power to more efficiently estimate this correlation. A meta-analysis was conducted with studies published between 1991-2020 that were identified by a systematic electronic search of the Scopus and Clarivate Analytics databases. Studies with bone mineral density (BMD) data and complete genotypes of the single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) for the overall and postmenopausal female population were included in this meta-analysis and analyzed using the R metaphor package. A relationship between rs1800012 and significantly decreased BMD values at the lumbar spine and femoral neck was found in individuals carrying the "ss" versus the "SS" genotype in the overall population according to a random effects model (p < 0.0001). Similar results were also found in the postmenopausal female population (p = 0.003 and 0.0002, respectively). Such findings might be an indication of increased osteoporosis risk in both studied groups in individuals with the "ss" genotype. Although no association was identified between the -1997 G > T and low BMD in the overall population, those individuals with the "GT" genotype showed a higher level of BMD than those with "GG" in the subgroup analysis (p = 0.007). To determine which transcription factor (TF) might bind to the -1997 G > T in COL1A1, 45 TFs were identified based on bioinformatics predictions. According to the GSE35958 microarray dataset, 16 of 45 TFs showed differential expression profiles in osteoporotic human mesenchymal stem cells relative to normal samples from elderly donors. By identifying candidate TFs for the -1997 G > T site, our study offers a new perspective for future research.

Association of Genetic Polymorphisms in TNFRSF11 with the Progression of Genetic Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer

Objective

To investigate the relationship between polymorphism of TNFRSF11 gene rs9533156 and rs2277438 and susceptibility to gastric cancer.

Methods

A case-control study was conducted to select 577 cases of primary gastric cancer and 678 cases of normal control. We extracted whole blood genomic DNA and amplified the target gene fragment by PCR. The genotyping and allele were tested through the snapshot method.

Results

In this case-control study, we observed that there was a difference in the genotype distribution of TNFRSF11 gene rs9533156 between the case group and the control group. The frequency distribution of TC heterozygous mutation in the case group was higher than that in the control group. The smoking rate in the case group (34.49%) was higher than that in the control group (27.29%), and the difference in frequency distribution between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0.006). Our findings suggest that TNFRSF11 rs9533156 is associated with susceptibility to GC, which is more evident among elderly patients (>62 years), nonsmokers, and patients who do not consume alcohol. The analysis of the relationship between the TNFSF11 gene rs9533156 site variant and clinical factors of gastric cancer showed that, compared with the tumor size <2 cm group, patients with tumor size ≥2 cm and whom carrying rs9533156 site mutations had a higher frequency distribution, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.022). Compared with the nonhyperglycemic group, the frequency distribution of patients with rs9533156 site mutations in the diabetes group was higher, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

This study shows that there is a correlation between smoking and the occurrence of gastric cancer. Based on our research, the functional SNP TNFRSF11 TC genotype may be an indicator of individual susceptibility to GC. The mutation at rs9533156 may be related to the size of gastric cancer. The mutation rate of rs9533156 of TNFSF11 gene is higher in diabetic gastric cancer patients.

High risk of lumbar spine osteoporosis with the RANK rs3018362 polymorphism

Osteoporosis is characterized by reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and quality, increasing the risk of fractures. A large number of genes involved in bone metabolism have been implicated in the genesis of osteoporosis; these include RANK and RANKL. Polymorphisms of these genes have been implicated in osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to determine the association of the RANK rs3018362 and RANKL rs12585014 polymorphisms with risk of osteoporosis. Four hundred Mexican women aged 40 years old or above were genotyped by real-time PCR and several demographic and risk factors were explored. The GA and AA genotypes of the rs3018362 polymorphism were associated with a high risk of osteoporosis in the dominant model (p=.0062; OR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.24-3.78). In summary, the rs3018362 polymorphism in the RANK gene seems to be associated with osteoporosis of the lumbar spine while the RANKL rs12585014 is not, although more studies are needed to confirm these results.