Associations between aldh genetic variants, alcohol consumption, and the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in an east asian population

Wen Ling Liao, Fu Chun Chan, Kai Ping Chang, Ya Wen Chang, Che Hong Chen, Wen Hui Su*, Hen Hong Chang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and alcohol flush syndrome are thought to be strongly influenced by genetic factors and are highly prevalent amongst East Asians. Diminished activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), a major enzyme in the alcohol-metabolizing pathway, causes the flushing syndrome associated with alcoholic consumption. The genetic effect of ALDH isoforms on NPC is unknown. We therefore investigated the association between the genetic polymorphisms of all 19 ALDH isoforms and NPC among 458 patients with NPC and 1672 age-and gender-matched healthy controls in Taiwan. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located between the 40,000 base pairs upstream and downstream of the 19 ALDH isoform coding regions were collected from two genome-wise association studies conducted in Taiwan and from the Taiwan Biobank. Thirteen SNPs located on ALDH4A1, ALDH18A1, ALDH3B2, ALDH1L2, ALDH1A2, and ALDH2 Glu487Lys (rs671) were associated with NPC susceptibility. Stratification by alcohol status revealed a cumula-tive risk effect for NPC amongst drinkers and non-drinkers, with odds ratios of 4.89 (95% confidence interval 2.15–11.08) and 3.57 (1.97–6.47), respectively. A synergistic effect was observed between SNPs and alcohol. This study is the first to report associations between genetic variants in 19 ALDH isoforms, their interaction with alcohol consumption and NPC in an East Asian population.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1547
JournalGenes
Volume12
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Alcohol
  • Aldehyde dehydrogenase
  • Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
  • Single nucleotide polymorphism

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