The Ratio of 2nd to 4th Digit Length in Korean Alcohol-dependent Patients

OBJECTIVE: The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait. Men have a relatively shorter second digit than fourth digit. This ratio is thought to be influenced by higher prenatal testosterone level or greater sensitivity to androgen. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between alcohol dependence and 2D:4D in a Korean sample and whether 2D:4D can be a biologic marker in alcohol dependence. METHODS: In this study, we recruited 87 male patients with alcohol dependence from the alcohol center of one psychiatric hospital and 52 healthy male volunteers who were all employees in the same hospital as controls. We captured images of the right and left hands of patients and controls using a scanner and extracted data with a graphics program. We measured the 2D:4D of each hand and compared the alcohol dependence group with the control group. We analyzed these ratios using an independent-samples t-test. RESULTS: The mean 2D:4D of patients was 0.934 (right hand) and 0.942 (left hand), while the mean 2D:4D of controls was 0.956 (right hand) and 0.958 (left hand). Values for both hands were significantly lower for patients than controls (p<0.001, right hand; p=0.004, left hand). CONCLUSION: Patients who are alcohol dependent have a significantly lower 2D:4D than controls, similar to the results of previous studies, which suggest that a higher prenatal testosterone level in the gonadal period is related to alcoholism. Furthermore, 2D:4D is a possible predictive marker of alcohol dependence.

Can We Use Single Nucleotide Polymorphism and Runt Domain Transcription Factor 3 Methylation as Tumor Markers for Bladder Cancer?

PURPOSE: Although many tumor markers have been evaluated in relation to bladder cancer, none of these biomarkers reported to date has shown sufficient sensitivity and specificity for the detection of the whole spectrum of bladder cancer diseases in routine clinical practice. The limited value of the established prognostic markers requires analysis of new molecular parameters of interest for predicting the prognosis of bladder cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a review of the literature with a focus on recent advances in genetic polymorphism and hypermethylation events in relation to bladder transitional cell carcinoma. RESULTS: Recently, there has been major progress in both genetic polymorphism in relation to bladder cancer and molecular genetic and epigenetic changes leading to the development of transitional cell carcinoma. However, studies on numerous single-nucleotide polymorphisms in relation to bladder cancer have provided only a few genetic polymorphisms with only marginal information on patients' prognosis. For this reason, interest is increasing in epigenetic changes in bladder cancer. The epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes is interesting from a clinical standpoint because of the possibility to reverse the epigenetic changes and thus restore gene function to a cell. Treatment with DNA methylation inhibitors can restore the activities of dormant genes and decrease the growth rate of cancer cells in a heritable fashion. CONCLUSIONS: Epigenetic modification may be possible to partially reverse the cancer phenotype, and this will eventually lead to targeted therapy tailored toward specific molecular therapy in the near future.