Role of Melatonin Receptor in Patients with Gastric Adenomacarcinoma in Mazandaran Province.

Background and purpose: According to recent studies melatonin has been known as a potent anti-oxidant with anti-oncostatic and cytoprotective properties. The gastrointestinal tract is the major source of melatonin in periphery. Therefore, many scientists suppose a protective role for melatonin in gastrointestinal tract. Also, there is a high rate of gastric adenocarcinoma in Mazandaran province of Iran, so this study investigated the expression of melatonin receptor in gastrointestinal patients with focusing on MT2 as an important melatonin receptor which its role in many cancers has been shown peviously. Materials and methods: Gastric adenocarcinoma patients from Mazandaran province of Iran were selected for this study and normal individuals as control. After extracting RNA from 30 gastric cancer tissues and 30 normal tissues and preparing cDNA, the expression of melatonin receptor (type 2) has been assayed with Real-time PCR. Results: Our experiment has been shown for the first time in Mazandarn province, high expression of melatonin receptor type 2 in gastric cancer tissues compared to control.Also it was revealed that this expression in marginal of cancer patients was more than cancer tissues and negative control. Conclusion: In this study for the first time we found the expression of melatonin receptor in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues which was in consistent with other studies as breast and colon cancer and a high expression in marginal tissues indicates a refractory mechanism and defending role of melatonin in GI system .Also high experession of this receptor in gastric cancer people of Mazandarn province may help to know better the etiology of high incidence of this kind of cancer in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]