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Many studies have demonstrated that apoptosis is involved in the development of disc degeneration. The initiator caspase 9 is activated through the apoptosome-driven intrinsic apoptotic pathway. The present study aimed to assess the potential association between the caspase 9 gene polymorphism and lumbar disc herniation (LDH) susceptibility, as well as severe grades of disc degeneration in the Han population in northern China. Genotyping was performed using the polymerase chain reaction and polymorphism was analyzed by restriction endonuclease cleavage in 387 patients with LDH and 412 control subjects. The allelic frequencies of caspase 9 Ex5++32 A were 0.483 and 0.391 in case patients and control subjects, respectively. Compared to those with the AA genotype, subjects with the GA//GG genotype have a higher risk to develop LDH (odds ratio 1.91; 95%% confidence interval 1.29--2.81). Moreover, the GA//GG genotype was found to contribute to the risk of more severe grades of disc degeneration, as observed in magnetic resonance imaging scan. In conclusion, this study suggests that the single nucleotide polymorphism in the caspase 9 Ex5 ++ 32 G//A may be associated with LDH and disc degeneration in the Han population of northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To search for the susceptibility variant (s) of type 2 diabetes in the susceptible regions on chr.1 (1p36.23-36.33, 1q24.3-25.1, and 1q42.12-42.13) by genotyping SNP markers in case-control DNA samples and identifying the haplotype associated with type 2 diabetes., Methods: Totally 124 SNPs in 33 candidate genes in the mapped regions were chosen from public SNP data or identified by sequencing the samples that were used to search for SNP locus. Sequencing method was used to genotype the loci for 236 sporadic type 2 diabetes patients and 152 normal subjects in Northern Han Chinese population. The haplotypes with significant difference were further analyzed., Results: Of 124 SNPs successfully typed, 4 SNPs that showed association with diabetes status were found: rs203849 (P=0.005, OR=1.60) and rs203826 (P=0.016, OR=1.60) located in sAC gene, rs7535528 (P=0.028, OR=1.45) located in PANK4, rs884363 (P=0.043, OR=1.37) located in CASP9 gene. In addition, the frequencies of two combination types from these 4 SNP genotypes were significantly different between case and control groups (P < 0.001). Furthermore, four haplotypes associated with diabetes were found in haplotype analysis of sAC gene., Conclusion: sAC, PANK4, and CA SP9 may be associated with type 2 diabetes in Han population in north China, and it seems that the synergetic effect of these genes is responsible for the development of type 2 diabetes.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) presents one of the major health threats in China today. A better understanding of the molecular genetics underlying malignant transformation of hepatocytes is critical to success in the battle against this disease. The methylation state of C5 of the cytosine in the CpG di-nucleotide that is enriched within or near the promoter region of over 50 % of the polymerase II genes has a drastic effect on transcription of these genes. Changes in the methylation profile of the promoters represent an alternative to genetic lesions as causative factors for the tumor-specific aberrant expression of the genes., Methods: We have used the methylation specific PCR method in conjunction with DNA sequencing to assess the methylation state of the promoter CpG islands of twenty genes. Aberrant expression of these genes have been attributed to the abnormal methylation profile of the corresponding promoter CpG islands in human tumors., Results: While the following sixteen genes remained the unmethylated in all tumor and normal tissues: CDH1, APAF1, hMLH1, BRCA1, hTERC, VHL, RARbeta, TIMP3, DAPK1, SURVIVIN, p14ARF, RB1, p15INK4b, APC, RASSF1c and PTEN, varying degrees of tumor specific hypermethylation were associated with the p16INK4a, RASSF1a, CASP8 and CDH13 genes. For instance, the p16INK4a was highly methylated in HCC (17/29, 58.6%) and less significantly methylated in non-cancerous tissue (4/29. 13.79%). The RASSF1a was fully methylated in all tumor tissues (29/29, 100%), and less frequently methylated in corresponding non-cancerous tissue (24/29, 82.75%)., Conclusions: Furthermore, co-existence of methylated with unmethylated DNA in some cases suggested that both genetic and epigenetic (CpG methylation) mechanisms may act in concert to inactivate the p16INK4a and RASSF1a in HCC. Finally, we found a significant association of cirrhosis with hypermethylation of the p16INK4a and hypomethylation of the CDH13 genes. For the first time, the survey was carried out on such an extent that it would not only provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underscoring the aberrant expression of the genes in this study in HCC, but also offer essential information required for a good methylation-based diagnosis of HCC.