Pesticide exposure and inherited variants in vitamin d pathway genes in relation to prostate cancer

Vitamin D regulates microbiome-dependent cancer immunity

A role for vitamin D in immune modulation and in cancer has been suggested. In this work, we report that mice with increased availability of vitamin D display greater immune-dependent resistance to transplantable cancers and augmented responses to checkpoint blockade immunotherapies. Similarly, in humans, vitamin D-induced genes correlate with improved responses to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment as well as with immunity to cancer and increased overall survival. In mice, resistance is attributable to the activity of vitamin D on intestinal epithelial cells, which alters microbiome composition in favor of Bacteroides fragilis, which positively regulates cancer immunity. Our findings indicate a previously unappreciated connection between vitamin D, microbial commensal communities, and immune responses to cancer. Collectively, they highlight vitamin D levels as a potential determinant of cancer immunity and immunotherapy success.

Joint associations between established genetic susceptibility loci, pesticide exposures, and risk of prostate cancer

More than 200 genetic variants have been independently associated with prostate cancer risk. Studies among farmers have also observed increased prostate cancer risk associated with exposure to specific organophosphate (fonofos, terbufos, malathion, dimethoate) and organochlorine (aldrin, chlordane) insecticides. We examined the joint associations between these pesticides, established prostate cancer loci, and prostate cancer risk among 1,162 cases (588 aggressive) and 2,206 frequency-matched controls nested in the Agricultural Health Study cohort. History of lifetime pesticide use was combined with a polygenic risk score (PRS) generated using 256 established prostate cancer risk variants. Logistic regression models estimated the joint associations of the pesticides, the PRS, and the 256 individual genetic variants with risk of total and aggressive prostate cancer. Likelihood ratio tests assessed multiplicative interaction. We observed interaction between ever use of fonofos and the PRS in relation to total and aggressive prostate cancer risk. Compared to the reference group (never use, PRS < median), men with ever use of fonofos and PRS > median had elevated risks of total (OR 1.35 [1.06-1.73], p-interaction = 0.03) and aggressive (OR 1.49 [1.09-2.04], p-interaction = 0.19) prostate cancer. There was also suggestion of interaction between pesticides and individual genetic variants occurring in regions associated with DNA damage response (CDH3, EMSY genes) and with variants related to altered androgen receptor-driven transcriptional programs critical for prostate cancer. Our study provides evidence that men with greater genetic susceptibility to prostate cancer may be at higher risk if they are also exposed to pesticides and suggests potential mechanisms by which pesticides may increase prostate cancer risk.

Maternal and Paternal Household Pesticide Exposure During Pregnancy and Risk of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate whether risk estimates for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia change when restricting model comparison groups to "nonpesticide exposure" (NPE10) households.

METHODS

Cases ( n = 1810) 15 years or younger were identified through Children's Cancer Group institutions between 1989 and 1993 and age-/sex-matched to controls ( n = 1951). Household pesticide use during pregnancy/month prior was collected via telephone. NPE10 comparison group reporting no parental exposure to 10 pesticide classes was identified.

RESULTS

Adjusted odds ratios increased from 15% to 49% when limiting the comparison to NPE10. Maternal termite insecticide exposure was associated with greatest risk (adjusted odds ratio, 4.21; 95% confidence interval, 2.00-8.88). There was minimal evidence of interaction by child sex or occupational pesticide exposure, and no monotonic dose-response pattern with frequency of use (times per year).

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated risks are consistent with published pooled-/meta-analyses and DNA damage. The consistency and magnitude of these associations warrant product labeling, exposure reduction interventions, or both.

Lambda cyhalothrin and chlorantraniliprole caused biochemical, histological, and immunohistochemical alterations in male rabbit liver: Ameliorative effect of vitamins A, D, E, C mixture

Pesticides can cause serious environmental and human health consequences such as metabolic disruption and even cancers. Preventive molecules such as vitamins can be an effective solution. The present study aimed to investigate the toxic effect of an insecticide mixture formulation of lambda cyhalothrin and chlorantraniliprole (Ampligo® 150 ZC), on the liver of male rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and the possible ameliorative effect of vitamins A, D3, E, and C mixture. For that, 18 male rabbits were divided into 3 equal groups: Control (distilled water), AP (20 mg/Kg bw of the insecticide mixture every other day, orally for 28 days), AP+ADEC (20 mg/Kg bw of the insecticide mixture + 0,5 ml of vitamin AD3E+ 200 mg/kg bw of vitamin C every other day). The effects were evaluated on body weight, food intake changes, biochemical parameters, liver histology, and immunohistochemical expression of AFP, Bcl2, E-cadherin, Ki67, and P53. Results indicated that AP reduced weight gain (6.71%) and feed intake, increased ALT, ALP, and TC plasma levels, and caused hepatic tissular damages such as dilatation and congestion of the central vein, sinusoidal dilatation, inflammatory cells infiltration, and collagen deposition. Hepatic immunostaining showed an increase in the tissular expression of AFP, Bcl2, Ki67, and P53 and a significant (p < 0,05) decrease in E-cadherin expression. In contrast, supplementation of vitamins A, D3, E, and C mixture improved the previous observed alterations. Our study revealed that a sub-acute exposure to an insecticide mixture of lambda cyhalothrin and chlorantraniliprole induced numerous functional and structural disorders in the rabbit liver and the addition of vitamins ameliorated these damages.

Vitamin D-Binding Protein and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Genetic Association Analysis in Combination with Vitamin D Levels

Genetic variations in the vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) may be associated with the plasma level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This study aimed to examine the potential association of VDBP genetic variants (rs7041 and rs4588) with AML susceptibility. The polymorphisms in the VDBP gene and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were analyzed in 227 AML patients and 240 healthy controls enrolled in this study. Our data revealed that rs4588 CA and AA genotypes were significantly associated with AML susceptibility (OR = 1.483, p = 0.046; OR = 2.154, p = 0.013, respectively) and also with 61.59% vitamin D deficiency in the total group of AML patients. Under the TG co-dominant and dominant models, however, the rs7041 genotypes were significantly associated with AML protection (OR < 0.6; p < 0.05). In addition, vitamin D deficiency was prevalent in vitamin-D-deficient vs. sufficient AML patients who carried rs7041 and rs4588 mutant alleles (OR ≥ 2.2). Indeed, vitamin D deficiency and its interaction with the genetic variants of VDBP could change the risk of AML. Thus, vitamin D deficiency could be considered an important molecular factor in AML risk assessment.

Endocrine disruptors and endometriosis

Endometriosis is a hormone-dependent inflammatory gynecological disease of reproductive-age women. It is clinically and pathologically characterized by the presence of functional endometrium as heterogeneous lesions outside the uterine cavity. The two major symptoms are chronic pelvic pain and infertility, which profoundly affect women's reproductive health and quality of life. This significant individual and public health concerns underscore the importance of understanding the pathogenesis of endometriosis. The environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous agents that interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, signaling, or metabolism of hormones responsible for homeostasis, reproduction, and developmental processes. Endometriosis has been potentially linked to exposure to EDCs. In this review, based on the robust literature search, we have selected four endocrine disruptors (i) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)s (ii) dioxins (TCDD) (iii) bisphenol A (BPA) and its analogs and (iv) phthalates to elucidate their critical role in the etiopathogenesis of endometriosis. The epidemiological and experimental data discussed in this review indicate that these four EDCs activate multiple intracellular signaling pathways associated with proinflammation, estrogen, progesterone, prostaglandins, cell survival, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and growth of endometriosis. The available information strongly indicates that environmental exposure to EDCs such as PCBs, dioxins, BPA, and phthalates individually or collectively contribute to the pathophysiology of endometriosis. Further understanding of the molecular mechanisms of how these EDCs establish endometriosis and therapeutic strategies to mitigate the effects of these EDCs in the pathogenesis of endometriosis are timely needed. Moreover, understanding the interactive roles of these EDCs in the pathogenesis of endometriosis will help regulate the exposure to these EDCs in reproductive age women.

Molecular mechanisms of developmental toxicities of azoxystrobin and pyraclostrobin toward zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos: Visualization of abnormal development using two transgenic lines

Azoxystrobin (AZ) and pyraclostrobin (PY) are strobilurin fungicides that inhibit fungal mitochondrial respiration. In this study, a representative model, zebrafish (Danio rerio), was used as a test species for acute and developmental toxicity. Survival and malformation rates were observed only PY-treated embryos, with an LC₅₀ value of 77.75 ppb accompanied by a dramatic decrease in hatching rate, while AZ did not show great mortality. Morphological changes were observed in PY-treated embryos with the occurrence of pericadial edema at 25 ppb. A delay in growth was observed after treatment with pyraclostrobin at 50 ppb. Use of genetically engineered Tg(cmlc:EGFP) allowed fluorescence observation during heart development. PY interfered with normal heart development via upregulation of the nppa gene responsible for the expression of natriuretic peptides. Heart function was dramatically reduced as indicated by reduced heart rates. Increased expression of the nppa gene was also seen in AZ-treated embryos. The expression level of cyp24a1 was also up-regulated, while ugt1a1 and sult1st6 were down-regulated after treatment of zebrafish embryos with AZ or PY. Overall, strobilurin fungicides might inhibit normal heart formation and function within the range of concentrations tested.

Occupational health and safety in agriculture. A systematic review

Introduction: The prevalence of occupational diseases in the agricultural sector is higher than in other industries, since agricultural workers are at higher risk of exposure to different chemicals and pesticides, and are more prone to occupational accidents.Objective: To conduct a review of recent literature on occupational health and risk in agriculture.Materials and methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, SciencieDirect and Scopus using the following search strategy: type of articles: original research papers; language: English; publication period: 2006-2016; search terms: "agricultural health", "agrarian health", "risk factors", "epidemiology", "causality" and "occupational", used in different combinations ("AND" and "OR").Results: The search yielded 350 articles, of which 102 met the inclusion criteria. Moreover, 5 articles were found in grey literature sources and included in the final analysis. Most research on this topic has been conducted in the United States, which produced 91% (97/107) of the articles included.Conclusions: Most studies on health and safety in agriculture focused primarily on the harmful effects of occupational exposure to agrochemicals and pesticides, and the consequences of occupational accidents. However, since more than 90% of these studies come from the United States, a more comprehensive approach to health in agriculture is required, since what is reported here may be far from the reality of other regions, especially Latin America.

Structure-based Identification of Endocrine Disrupting Pesticides Targeting Breast Cancer Proteins

Endocrine disrupting pesticides (EDPs) are exogenous compounds that disrupt endocrine activity. Human exposure to EDPs can occur through occupational contact, and through the consumption of food, milk and water with trace amounts of these pollutants. Several EDPs are epidemiologically linked to breast cancer or are considered as possible carcinogens. However, current evidence is not fully conclusive and their mechanisms of action remain unknown. Thus, the potential interactions between 262 EDPs and 189 proteins associated with breast cancer were evaluated by using a virtual high-throughput screening approach, with AutoDock Vina 1.1.1. The molecular coordinates were previously downloaded from Protein Data Bank and EDCs DataBank, and used for preparation and optimization in Sybyl X-2.0. The best affinity score (-11.0 kcal/mol) was obtained for flucythrinate with the nuclear receptor for vitamin D (VDR). This synthetic pyrethroid, along with other EDPs, such as fluvalinate, bifenthrin, cyhalothrin and cypermethrin, are proposed as multi-target ligands of several proteins related to breast cancer. In addition, the validation of our protocol showed a good accuracy in terms of binding pose prediction and affinity estimation. This study provides a guide to prioritize EDPs for which further in vitro and in vivo analysis could be done to evaluate the risk and possible mechanisms of action of these contaminants and their potential association with breast cancer.

Exposure to permethrin and cancer risk: a systematic review

No systematic reviews are available on data from humans on cancer risk from exposure to permethrin, a widely used insecticide for which some animal studies have reported positive findings based on mechanisms that may not be relevant to humans. We identified potentially relevant articles through a search of electronic databases which included all studies of pesticide exposure and human cancer. A total of 18 articles were selected, including six identified from the list of references of other articles. Most articles were based on analyzes of the Agriculture Health Study (AHS); they provided no evidence of an increased risk of cancers of colon, rectum, pancreas, lung, melanoma, female breast, prostate, urinary bladder, as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma (including its main subtypes), and leukemia. An increased risk of multiple myeloma was reported among AHS members with the highest tertile of estimated permethrin exposure (odds ratio 5.01; 95% confidence interval 2.41-10.42; p for trend <0.01). A subsequent analysis with a larger number of cases found a less pronounced association between permethrin exposure and risk of multiple myeloma; no exposed cases were reported in a separate study. Two case-control studies of childhood leukemia reported an association with biological markers of permethrin metabolites; in another study self-reported exposure to permethrin was associated with risk in children below 1 year of age, but not in older children. In conclusion, permethrin exposure does not seem to entail a risk of cancer in humans. Results on multiple myeloma and childhood leukemia are weak and inconsistent, and require replication in independent populations.

Mechanism underlying the effect of long-term exposure to low dose of pesticides on DNA integrity

Pesticides, including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, are widely used in intensive agriculture. Recently, the long-term effects of pesticide exposure were found to be associated with many diseases. In this study, we evaluated the long-term effect of low-level exposure to a mixture of pesticides on DNA damage response (DDR) in relation to individual detoxifying variability. A residential population chronically exposed to pesticides was enrolled, biological/environmental pesticide levels; paroxonase 1 (PON-1) activity and 192 Q/R polymorphism and DDR were evaluated at three different periods of pesticide exposure. OGG1-dependent DNA repair activity was decreased in relation to pesticide exposure. The increase of DNA lesions and pesticide levels in the intensive pesticide-spraying period was independent on PON-1 activity. Next, human bronchial epithelial and neuronal cells were used as a model for in vitro evaluation of the mechanistic effect of pesticides. Pesticides induced mitochondrial dysfunction leading to ROS formation. ROS from mitochondria induced DNA damage, which in turn induced OGG1-dependent DNA repair activity through 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1) expression and activation. Even though OGG1 was overexpressed, an inhibition of its activity, associated with DNA lesion accumulation, was found at prolonged pesticide-exposure. A post-translational regulation of OGG1 by pesticide may be postulated. Taken together, long-term exposure to low-levels of pesticides affects DDR resulting in accumulation of DNA lesions that eventually may lead to cancer or neurological disorders.

Prominent role of RAB39A-RXRB axis in cancer development and stemness

In this study, we found that RAB39A, a member of the RAS oncogene family, was selectively expressed in cancer cells of different histotypes, by analyzing gene expression in human osteosarcoma cells and the cancer stem cells (CSCs) and by comparing them with normal cells through global transcriptomics and principal component analyses. We further validated RAB39A as a therapeutic target, by silencing its expression. The silencing impaired cancer stemness and spherogenic ability in vitro, as well as tumorigenesis in vivo. RNA-seq analyses in the silenced spheres suggested that RAB39A is associated downstream with RXRB and KLF4. Notably, RXRB expression was inhibited in RAB39A-silenced CSCs. Induced overexpression of RXRB in RAB39A-silenced cells restored spherogenic ability and tumorigenesis, confirming RXRB as a major effector of RAB39A. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of ∼400 human cancer tissues showed that RAB39A was highly expressed in sarcomas and in malignancies of lymphoid, adrenal and testicular tissues. Our data provide the rationale for targeting of the RAB39A-RXRB axis as a therapy for aggressive cancers.

Sex Steroid Hormone Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms, Pesticide Use, and the Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Nested Case-Control Study within the Agricultural Health Study

Experimental and epidemiologic investigations suggest that certain pesticides may alter sex steroid hormone synthesis, metabolism or regulation, and the risk of hormone-related cancers. Here, we evaluated whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involved in hormone homeostasis alter the effect of pesticide exposure on prostate cancer risk. We evaluated pesticide-SNP interactions between 39 pesticides and SNPs with respect to prostate cancer among 776 cases and 1,444 controls nested in the Agricultural Health Study cohort. In these interactions, we included candidate SNPs involved in hormone synthesis, metabolism or regulation (N = 1,100), as well as SNPs associated with circulating sex steroid concentrations, as identified by genome-wide association studies (N = 17). Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Multiplicative SNP-pesticide interactions were calculated using a likelihood ratio test. We translated p-values for interaction into q-values, which reflected the false discovery rate, to account for multiple comparisons. We observed a significant interaction, which was robust to multiple comparison testing, between the herbicide dicamba and rs8192166 in the testosterone metabolizing gene SRD5A1 (p-interaction = 4.0 × 10^-5; q-value = 0.03), such that men with two copies of the wild-type genotype CC had a reduced risk of prostate cancer associated with low use of dicamba (OR = 0.62 95% CI: 0.41, 0.93) and high use of dicamba (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.68), compared to those who reported no use of dicamba; in contrast, there was no significant association between dicamba and prostate cancer among those carrying one or two copies of the variant T allele at rs8192166. In addition, interactions between two organophosphate insecticides and SNPs related to estradiol metabolism were observed to result in an increased risk of prostate cancer. While replication is needed, these data suggest both agonistic and antagonistic effects on circulating hormones, due to the combination of exposure to pesticides and genetic susceptibility, may impact prostate cancer risk.

Pesticides: an update of human exposure and toxicity

Pesticides are a family of compounds which have brought many benefits to mankind in the agricultural, industrial, and health areas, but their toxicities in both humans and animals have always been a concern. Regardless of acute poisonings which are common for some classes of pesticides like organophosphoruses, the association of chronic and sub-lethal exposure to pesticides with a prevalence of some persistent diseases is going to be a phenomenon to which global attention has been attracted. In this review, incidence of various malignant, neurodegenerative, respiratory, reproductive, developmental, and metabolic diseases in relation to different routes of human exposure to pesticides such as occupational, environmental, residential, parental, maternal, and paternal has been systematically criticized in different categories of pesticide toxicities like carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, pulmonotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, developmental toxicity, and metabolic toxicity. A huge body of evidence exists on the possible role of pesticide exposures in the elevated incidence of human diseases such as cancers, Alzheimer, Parkinson, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, asthma, bronchitis, infertility, birth defects, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, diabetes, and obesity. Most of the disorders are induced by insecticides and herbicides most notably organophosphorus, organochlorines, phenoxyacetic acids, and triazine compounds.

Genetic polymorphisms in the vitamin D pathway in relation to lung cancer risk and survival

Studies have suggested that vitamin D may have protective effects against cancer development or tumor progression. To search for additional evidence, we investigated the role of genetic polymorphisms involved in the vitamin D pathway in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated common genetic polymorphisms associated with the vitamin D pathway in relation to NSCLC in a case-control study of 603 newly diagnosed NSCLC patients and 661 matched healthy controls. Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped, the expression of CYP27B1 and CYP24A1 were measured in 153 tumor samples and their associations with genotypes and patient survival were also analyzed. In the case-control comparison, we found SNP rs3782130 (CYP27B1), rs7041 (GC), rs6068816 and rs4809957 (CYP24A1) associated with NSCLC risk. The risk of NSCLC was increased with the number of risk alleles. CYP27B1 and CYP24A1 expression were significantly different between tumor and normal tissues in NSCLC. High CYP27B1 expression was associated with better overall survival, and the expression was different by the rs3782130 genotype. The study suggests that some genetic polymorphisms involved in the vitamin D pathway may associate with NSCLC risk, and one of the polymorphisms (rs3782130) may affect gene expression and patient survival.

EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

The Endocrine Society's first Scientific Statement in 2009 provided a wake-up call to the scientific community about how environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) affect health and disease. Five years later, a substantially larger body of literature has solidified our understanding of plausible mechanisms underlying EDC actions and how exposures in animals and humans-especially during development-may lay the foundations for disease later in life. At this point in history, we have much stronger knowledge about how EDCs alter gene-environment interactions via physiological, cellular, molecular, and epigenetic changes, thereby producing effects in exposed individuals as well as their descendants. Causal links between exposure and manifestation of disease are substantiated by experimental animal models and are consistent with correlative epidemiological data in humans. There are several caveats because differences in how experimental animal work is conducted can lead to difficulties in drawing broad conclusions, and we must continue to be cautious about inferring causality in humans. In this second Scientific Statement, we reviewed the literature on a subset of topics for which the translational evidence is strongest: 1) obesity and diabetes; 2) female reproduction; 3) male reproduction; 4) hormone-sensitive cancers in females; 5) prostate; 6) thyroid; and 7) neurodevelopment and neuroendocrine systems. Our inclusion criteria for studies were those conducted predominantly in the past 5 years deemed to be of high quality based on appropriate negative and positive control groups or populations, adequate sample size and experimental design, and mammalian animal studies with exposure levels in a range that was relevant to humans. We also focused on studies using the developmental origins of health and disease model. No report was excluded based on a positive or negative effect of the EDC exposure. The bulk of the results across the board strengthen the evidence for endocrine health-related actions of EDCs. Based on this much more complete understanding of the endocrine principles by which EDCs act, including nonmonotonic dose-responses, low-dose effects, and developmental vulnerability, these findings can be much better translated to human health. Armed with this information, researchers, physicians, and other healthcare providers can guide regulators and policymakers as they make responsible decisions.

Meta-analysis of vitamin D-binding protein and cancer risk

BACKGROUND

Epidemiologic evidence supported a role for vitamin D and vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms in cancer risk. Beyond VDR, the biologic effects of vitamin D are mediated by the vitamin D-binding protein (DBP), a key protein in vitamin D metabolism. Furthermore, the gene encoding the DBP (GC, group-specific component) has an important role in the vitamin D pathway. Several studies investigated DBP serologic levels and GC polymorphisms in association with cancer risk with controversial results. Thus, we carried out a meta-analysis to investigate these associations.

METHODS

We included 28 independent studies concerning the following tumors: basal cell carcinoma, bladder, breast, colon-rectum, endometrium, liver, esophagus, stomach, melanoma, pancreas, prostate, and kidney. Through random-effect models, we calculated the summary odds ratios (SOR) for serum DBP and the GC polymorphisms rs2282679, rs12512631, rs7041, rs4588, rs17467825, rs1155563, and rs1352844.

RESULTS

We found a borderline decrease in cancer risk for subjects with high compared with low levels of DBP [SOR, 0.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.56-1.00]. Dose-response meta-analysis indicates a nonsignificant decrease risk for an increase of 1,000 nmol/L of DBP (SOR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.91-1.01). We found no significant alterations in cancer risk for subjects carrying any of the studied GC polymorphisms compared with wild-type subjects both in the main analysis and in analyses stratified by cancer type and ethnicity.

CONCLUSIONS

We found trends toward significance, suggesting a role of DBP in cancer etiology, which should be confirmed in further studies.

IMPACT

To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate GC polymorphisms and DBP serologic levels in association with any type of cancer.

Vitamin D, Cancer Risk, and Mortality

Antiproliferative effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, the biologically active form of vitamin D, are well established in various cell types by influencing cell differentiation and decreasing cell proliferation, growth, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Several meta-analyses showed that low serum levels of 25(OH)D was associated with colorectal cancer and overall mortality, while the association with cancer mortality was less consistent. VDR is a crucial mediator for the cellular effects of vitamin D and conflicting data have been reported for most malignancies. Beyond VDR, the biological effects of vitamin D are mediated by the vitamin D-binding protein. The GC (group-specific component) gene, encoding DBP, is highly polymorphic and several polymorphisms were investigated in association with cancer development with controversial results. Vitamin D supplementation was found to be associated with a reduced risk of overall mortality, reviewing all published trials on healthy subjects, whereas the evidence of an effect on cancer risk and mortality is less clear. Furthermore, long-term health effects of high doses of vitamin D, extended duration of supplementation, and the association with different baseline vitamin D levels remain to be investigated. In summary, epidemiological and preclinical studies support the development of vitamin D as preventative and therapeutic anticancer agents, with significant associations especially found for low vitamin D status with overall mortality and cancer outcome, more than cancer incidence. However, a definitive conclusion cannot be drawn and only large randomized clinical trials, both in healthy subjects and in cancer patients, will allow to draw definitive conclusions on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on cancer risk, prognosis, and mortality.

Differential expression profiling of microRNAs in para-carcinoma, carcinoma and relapse human pancreatic cancer

PURPOSE

To explore the altered different expression of miRNAs and the mechanisms underlying the relapse and metastasis of pancreatic cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The most differentially expressed miRNAs were analyzed by gene ontology (GO) term analysis, Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis and protein interaction analysis. The potentially regulated target genes of the most differentially expressed miRNAs were also analyzed further by GO term analysis and KEGG pathway analysis, and quantitated by qRT-PCR.

RESULTS

In total, we found 12 miRNAs displayed at least a 30-fold increase or decrease in expression of carcinoma and relapse vs. para-carcinoma human pancreatic cancer (C/R vs. P). In addition, our study found that pancreatic cancer was related to pathways in cancer, including Jak-STAT signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and PPAR signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

The differential expressed miRNAs and their predicted target genes that involved in Jak-STAT signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and PPAR signaling pathway indicating their potential roles in pancreatic carcinogenesis and progress.

Single-nucleotide polymorphism data support the general unrelatedness of the males in the agricultural health study

BACKGROUND

Farming is often a family and multigenerational business. Relatedness among farmers could bias gene-environment interaction analysis. To evaluate the potential relatedness of farmers, we used data from a nested case-control study of prostate cancer conducted in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a prospective study of farmers in Iowa and North Carolina.

METHODS

We analyzed the genetic data for 25,009 SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) from 2,220 White participants to test for cryptic relatedness among these farmers. We used two software packages: (i) PLINK, to calculate inbreeding coefficients and identity-by-descent (IBD) statistics and (ii) EIGENSOFT, to perform a principal component analysis on the genetic data.

RESULTS

Inbreeding coefficients estimates and IBD statistics show that the subjects are overwhelmingly unrelated, with little potential for cryptic relatedness in these data.

CONCLUSIONS

Our analysis rejects the hypothesis that individuals in the case-control study exhibit cryptic relatedness.

IMPACT

These findings are important for all subsequent analyses of gene-environment interactions in the AHS.