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Abstract: Background: Some studies suggested that Glutathione S-transferases M1/T1(GSTM1/T1) null polymorphisms may be associated with the risk of vitiligo. Aims: The purpose of this study is to further evaluate the association between GSTM1/T1 null polymorphisms and the susceptibility to vitiligo. Methods: We carried out a retrieval of studies in the databases. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to assess the strength of this association. We analyzed the data using Stata 11.0. Results: Six case–control studies including 1358 cases and 1673 controls were included in this meta-analysis. Our overall results showed the GSTM1 or GSTT1 null polymorphism was associated with vitiligo (GSTM1:OR=1.59, 95% CI: 1.21–2.08, P=0.001; GSTT1: OR=1.30, 95% CI: 1.12–1.51, P=0.001). In the subgroup analysis, the GSTM1 null polymorphism might be a genetic risk factor to vitiligo in East Asian (OR=1.71, 95% CI: 1.12–2.63, P=0.014) but not in the Mediterranean, however individuals with the GSTT1 null polymorphism in the Mediterranean (OR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.15–2.71, P=0.010) but not in East Asian have a greater predisposition to vitiligo. In addition there was also a significant trend toward an association with the combination of the GSTM1 null and GSTT1 null in either East Asians or Mediterraneans. Conclusion: The GSTM1/T1 null polymorphisms may be associated with vitiligo. More studies are needed to confirm this conclusion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has been reported to be associated with the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD).Aims: To evaluate the associations of PD risk with COMT polymorphisms.Materials and Methods: A retrieval of studies that investigated associations between COMT polymorphisms and PD was carried out. Studies were included if they met the eligibility criteria.Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using Stata version 12.0.Results: A total of 18 studies including 2926 PD cases and 3151 controls were included. The results showed no significant association with all genotypes and alleles in Caucasians. However in Asians, the homozygote A/A (Odds ratio [OR] =1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.16-1.98, P =0.002) tends to increase risk of PD, however, the homozygote G/A (OR =0.85, 95% CI =0.74-0.98, P =0.03) may be a slightly protective effect against PD.Conclusions: This study showed that the COMT polymorphisms may be associated with PD in Asians rather than Caucasians. But further studies are needed to confirm our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous study, we have found the catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism may be associated with the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) in Asians, especially Japanese population. In this study, we further evaluated the associations of PD wearing-off susceptibility with COMT polymorphisms. We carried out a retrieval of studies and included the relevant studies which met the criteria. After the data were extracted, the Stata software 11.0 was used to analyse the genotype frequencies. A total of five studies were included. The pooled result indicated that genotype AA was significantly associated with the wearing-off risk of PD (AA vs. others: OR = 2.52, 95 % CI 1.21-5.26, P = 0.013; AA vs. GA: OR = 2.51, 95 % CI 1.18-5.34, P = 0.017; AA vs. GG: OR = 2.17, 95 % CI 1.09-4.33, P = 0.027). The results also showed allele A was correlated with PD wearing-off risk (A vs. G: OR = 1.95, 95 % CI 1.18-3.22, P = 0.009). In conclusion, this study suggested that Val158Met polymorphisms in COMT may increase the risk of wearing-off. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]