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Background: Mutations in superoxide dismutase 1 gene (SOD1) are the most frequent high penetrant genetic cause for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the Chinese population. A detailed natural history of SOD1 -mutated ALS patients will provide key information for ongoing genetic clinical trials. Methods: We screened for SOD1 mutations using whole exome sequencing (WES) in Chinese ALS cases from 2017 to 2021. Functional studies were then performed to confirm the pathogenicity of novel variants. In addition, we enrolled previously reported SOD1 mutations in our centers from 2007 to 2017. The SOD1 mutation spectrum, age at onset (AAO), diagnostic delay, and survival duration were analyzed. Results: We found two novel SOD1 variants (p.G17H and p.E134*) that exerted both gain-of-function and loss-of-function effects in vitro. Combined with our previous SOD1 -mutated patients, 32 probands with 21 SOD1 mutations were included with the four most frequently occurring mutations of p.V48A, p.H47R, p.C112Y, and p.G148D. SOD1 mutations account for 58.9% of familial ALS (FALS) cases. The mean (SD) AAO was 46 ± 11.4 years with a significant difference between patients carrying mutations in exon 1 [ n = 5, 34.6 (12.4) years] and exon 2 [ n = 8, 51.4 (8.2) years] (p = 0.038). The mean of the diagnostic delay of FALS patients is significantly earlier than the sporadic ALS (SALS) patients [9.5 (4.8) vs. 20.3 (9.3) years, p = 0.0026]. In addition, male patients survived longer than female patients (40 vs. 16 months, p = 0.05). Conclusion: Our results expanded the spectrum of SOD1 mutations, highlighted the mutation distribution, and summarized the natural history of SOD1 -mutated patients in southeastern China. Male patients were found to have better survival, and FALS patients received an earlier diagnosis. Our findings assist in providing a detailed clinical picture, which is important for ongoing genetic clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can predict risks for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and advanced liver disease in the general population. We aimed to establish a non-invasive score for prediction of NAFLD in Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in the world, and detect whether ethnicity influences the accuracy of such a score. Methods: Liver fat content (LFAT) was measured by quantitative ultrasound in 3548 subjects in the Shanghai Changfeng Community and a Chinese score was created using multivariate logistic regression analyses. This new score was internally validated in Chinese and externally in Finns. Its diagnostic performance was compared to the NAFLD liver fat score, fatty liver index (FLI) and hepatic steatosis index (HSI) developed in Finns, Italians and Koreans. We also analyzed how obesity related to LFAT measured by 1H-MRS in 79 Finns and 118 Chinese with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Results: The metabolic syndrome and T2D, fasting serum insulin, body mass index (BMI) and AST/ALT ratio were independent predictors of NAFLD in Chinese. The AUROC in the Chinese validation cohort was 0.76 (0.73–0.78) and in Finns 0.73 (0.68–0.78) (p<0.0001). 43%, 27%, 32% and 42% of Chinese had NAFLD when determined by the Chinese score, NAFLD liver fat score (p<0.001 vs. Chinese score), FLI (p<0.001) and HSI (NS). For any given BMI and waist circumference, the Chinese had a markedly higher LFAT than the Finns. Conclusion: The predictors of NAFLD in Han Chinese are as in Europids but the Chinese have more LFAT for any given degree of obesity than Europids. Ethnicity needs to be considered when NAFLD is predicted using risk scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometrial cancer (EC) is a complex disease involving multiple gene-gene and gene–environment interactions. TGF-β signaling plays pivotal roles in EC development. This study aimed to investigate whether the genetic polymorphisms of TGF-β signaling related genes TGFB1, TGFBR1, SNAI1 and TWIST1 contribute to EC susceptibility. Using the TaqMan Genotyping Assay, 19 tagging-SNPs of these four genes were genotyped in 516 EC cases and 707 controls among Chinese Han women. Logistic regression (LR) showed that the genetic variants of TGFB1 rs1800469, TGFBR1 rs6478974 and rs10733710, TWIST1 rs4721745 were associated with decreased EC risk, and these four loci showed a dose-dependent effect (Ptrend < 0.0001). Classification and regression tree (CART) demonstrated that women carrying both the genotypes of TGFBR1 rs6478974 TT and rs10512263 TC/CC had the highest risk of EC (aOR = 7.86, 95% CI = 3.42–18.07, P<0.0001). Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) revealed that TGFB1 rs1800469 plus TGFBR1 rs6478974 was the best interactional model to detect EC risk. LR, CART and MDR all revealed that TGFBR1 rs6478974 was the most important protective locus for EC. In haplotype association study, TGFBR1 haplotype CACGA carrier showed the lowest EC risk among women with longer menarche-first full term pregnancy intervals (˃11 years) and BMI˂24 (aOR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.17–0.90, P = 0.0275). These results suggest that polymorphisms in TGFB1, TGFBR1, SNAI1 and TWIST1 may modulate EC susceptibility, both separately and corporately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate whether the germline variants in CDH1 and CTNNB1 would affect breast cancer susceptibility and patients’ prognosis among Chinese Han women using a haplotype-based association analysis. We genotyped 12 haplotype-tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (htSNPs) in CDH1 and CTNNB1 among 1,160 BC cases and 1,336 age-matched cancer-free controls using the TaqMan® Genotyping Assay. For association analyses of germline variants with breast cancer susceptibility, the results showed that rs7200690, rs7198799, rs17715799, rs13689 and diplotype CGC/TGC (rs7200690 + rs12185157 + rs7198799) in CDH1 as well as rs2293303 in CTNNB1 were associated with increased breast cancer risk. In addition, the Generalized Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction (GMDR) and logistic regression analysis predicted an interaction on breast cancer risk between rs17715799 and rs13689 as well as rs13689 and menarche-FFTP (First Full-Term Pregnancy) interval. For survival analyses, the results demonstrated that the minor allele homozygotes of rs13689 and haplotype TGC in CDH1 were linked with unfavorable event-free survival of breast cancer, whereas, rs4783689 of CDH1 showed the opposite effect under dominant model. Notably, the stratified analysis revealed that rs7186053 was associated with favorable event-free survival among patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, progesterone receptor (PR)-positive or lymph node metastasis negative patients. Moreover, rs7200690 and rs7198799 in CDH1 as well as rs4533622 in CTNNB1 were associated with worse event-free survival among patients with clinical stage 0-I tumors. This study indicated that the genetic polymorphisms of CDH1 and CTNNB1 were associated with breast cancer susceptibility and patients’ prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of uric acid ( UA) on the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders is highly dependent on its physicochemical properties, and hyperuricaemia associated with different conditions may have different clinical meanings. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of serum UA levels with metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease ( NAFLD) in a middle-aged and elderly population with normal and impaired renal function., The cross-sectional study was performed on 1141 participants (426 men, 715 women; mean age 62 years) enrolled from the Shanghai Changfeng community. Each participant underwent a standard interview, with anthropometric and laboratory measurements. Hepatic fat content ( HFC) was determined by a newly established quantitative ultrasound method., Univariate correlation analysis showed that serum UA was associated with all components of metabolic syndrome and HFC ( r = 0.193, P < 0.001), especially in participants with a normal estimated glomerular filtration rate (e GFR; r = 0.255, P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated an independent association of serum UA with metabolic syndrome and NAFLD in participants with normal renal function, but not in those with e GFR < 90 m L/min per 1.73 m2. Furthermore, multivariate linear analysis showed that UA levels were independently associated with HFC ( P = 0.003), but only in participants with normal e GFR., Elevated serum UA is independently associated with metabolic syndrome and NAFLD in patients with normal renal excretory function. However, in those with renal insufficiency, hyperuricaemia has no association with metabolic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We reported two novel mutations in two Chinese family with RBM. • By reviewing, we found that the most frequent pathogenic variants were identified in H123 residue (23.08%), followed by C153 residue (20.51%) and C150 residue (15.38%). • Our results indicated that familial female RBM patients exhibited asymmetric benign muscle involvements instead of a classic phenotype with early onset, symmetric and progressive generalized muscle weakness. Reducing body myopathy (RBM) is a rare myopathy characterized by reducing bodies (RBs) in morphological presentation. The clinical manifestations of RBM present a wide clinical spectrum, varying from infantile lethal form through childhood and adult benign forms. FHL1 gene is the causative gene of RBM. To date, only 6 Chinese RBM patients have been reported. Here, we reported the clinical presentations and genetic findings of 3 Chinese RBM patients from two families. Two novel pathogenic variants, c.395G>A and c.401_402insGAC, were identified by whole exome sequencing. Furthermore, by reviewing previous studies, we revealed that most RBM patients manifested with an early onset, symmetric, progressive limb-girdle and axial muscle weakness with joint contractures, rigid spine or scoliosis except familial female patients who exhibited asymmetric benign muscle involvements. Our results provide insightful information to help better diagnose and understand the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CCNB1 and CDK1 genes encode the proteins of CyclinB1 and CDK1 respectively, which interact with each other and are involved in cell cycle regulation, centrosome duplication and chromosome segregation. This study aimed to investigate whether the genetic variants in these two genes may affect breast cancer (BC) susceptibility, progression, and survival in Chinese Han population using haplotype-based analysis. A total of ten tSNPs spanning from 2kb upstream to 2kb downstream of these genes were genotyped in 1204 cases and 1204 age-matched cancer-free controls. The haplotype blocks were determined according to our genotyping data and linkage disequilibrium (LD) status of these SNPs. For CCNB1, rs2069429 was significantly associated with increased BC susceptibility under recessive model (OR=2.352, 95%CI=1.480-3.737), so was the diplotype TAGT/TAGT (OR=1.947 95%CI=1.154-3.284, P=0.013). In addition, rs164390 was associated with Her2-negative BC. For CDK1, rs2448343 and rs1871446 were significantly associated with decreased BC risk under dominant models, so was the haplotype ATATT. These two SNPs also showed a dose-dependent effect on BC susceptibility. Using stratified association analysis, we found that women with the heterozygotes or minor allele homozygotes of rs2448343 had much less BC susceptibility among women with BMI<23. In CDK1, three closely located SNPs, rs2448343, rs3213048 and rs3213067, were significantly associated with tumor’s PR status: the heterozygotes of rs2448343 were associated with PR-positive tumors, while the minor allele homozygotes of rs3213048 and heterozygotes of rs3213067 were associated with PR-negative BC tumors. In survival analysis, rs1871446 was associated with unfavorable event-free survival under recessive model, so was the CDK1 diplotype ATATG/ATATG, which carried the minor allele homozygote of rs1871446. Our study indicates that genetic polymorphisms of CCNB1 and CDK1 are related to BC susceptibility, progression, and survival in Chinese Han women. Further studies need to be performed in other populations as an independent replication to verify these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Centrosome aberrations and cell-cycle deregulations have important implications for the development of endometrial carcinoma. AURKA , BRCA1 , CCNE1 and CDK2 genes play pivotal roles in centrosome duplication and cell-cycle regulation. This study aimed to investigate whether genetic polymorphisms in these four genes may contribute to endometrial carcinoma susceptibility and progression in Chinese Han women. Study design : A total of twenty-two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected according to the public HapMap database (HapMap Data Release #27; Chinese Beijing population), and genotyped using TaqMan Realtime PCR method in 530 endometrial adenocarcinoma cases and 825 age-matched controls from Chinese Han women. Then, haplotype blocks were reconstructed according to our genotyping data. Results For AURKA , the rs911162 was associated with increased risk of endometrial carcinoma [in co-dominant model: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 4.92, 95% CI = 1.24–19.55, P = 0.0235]. The haplotype GA (rs6064391 + rs911162) in block 1 of AURKA was also associated with increased risk of endometrial carcinoma (aOR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.07–2.06, P = 0.0189). For BRCA1 , the minor allele homozygotes of rs8067269 could decrease the risk of endometrial carcinoma (in co-dominant models: aOR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.34–0.80, P = 0.0032), so was the haplotype CTCAG (rs8176323 + rs8176199 + rs3737559 + rs8067269 + rs2070833) (aOR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.50–0.95, P = 0.0234). Moreover, we found several associations between genetic variations in CCNE1 , BRCA1 and AURKA and clinicopathological parameters. Conclusions This study indicates that genetic polymorphisms of AURKA , BRCA1 and CCNE1 may contribute to endometrial carcinoma susceptibility or progression in Chinese Han women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]