Associations between a PTPN11 polymorphism and gastric atrophy--opposite in Uzbekistan to that in Japan.

Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 (SHP-2) of gastric epithelial cells interacts with cagA from Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Our previous studies found the AA genotype of a G/A single nucleotide polymorphism at intron 3 (rs2301756) of PTPN11 gene, which encodes SHP-2, to be associated with a lower risk of gastric atrophy. The present study aimed to examine the association with gastric atrophy among the subjects of a case-control study of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) conducted in the Uzbek Republic. Cases were 95 patients (61 males and 34 females) with PUD aged 16 to 85 years. Controls were 102 hospital volunteers (42 males and 60 females) including 42 patients with miscellaneous diseases, aged 15 to 75 years. Gastric atrophy was evaluated with serum pepsinogens (PG1<70 ng/ml and PG1/PG2<3). Polymorphisms of PTPN11 at intron 3 (rs2301756) and intron10 (rs12229892) were genotyped with PCR with confronting two-pair primers (PCR-CTPP). Anti-cagA IgG antibody was detected in 93.7% of cases and 77.5% in controls. Gastric atrophy was observed in 24.2% of the PUD patients and 33.3% in the controls. The A allele at intron 3 was completely linked to the G allele at intron 10. The age, sex, and group (cases and controls) adjusted odds ratio of gastric atrophy was 0.18 (95% confidence interval, 0.04-0.86) for intron 3 GG genotype relative to AA genotype. Since the finding was opposite to that among Japanese, the H. pylori strains and/or lifestyle in Uzbekistan might modify the association.

No association of an SDHC gene polymorphism with gastric cancer.

It is widely reported that reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause apotosis and carcinogenesis. Marked infiltration of activated leukocyte and enhanced production of ROS appear to occur in the gastric mucosa infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). The previous studies reported that the mutation of the succinate dehydrogenase subunit C (SDHC) gene caused the increase in superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) and oxidative stress. To extend these findings, we epidemiologically investigated the association of a SDHC polymorphism at 3'-untranslated region of exon 6 (JST173800) with H. pylori infection, gastric atrophy and gastric cancer risk in Japan. The subjects consisted of 454 health checkup examinees without a history of cancer and 202 gastric cancer patients. The SDHC polymorphism was not associated with H. pylori infection seropositivity, gastric atrophy, and cancer risk in this study. Although the polymorphism at the 3'-untranslated region could be hypothesized to be functional, this study did not demonstrate any significant association of the SDHC gene polymorphism with gastric atrophy and cancer.

A pilot study on inducement of smoking cessation by a simple 5A (asking, advice, assess, assist, and arrange) approach at outpatient clinics.

Asking smokers about their smoking status, followed by advice to quit smoking, assessing the intention to quit, assistance with cessation, and arrange of follow-up (5A) is recommended for induction of smoking cessation. To obtain preliminary data on effects of "5A" , we investigated the smoking cessation rate with two modes in the phase I: 1) self-administered questionnaire and 2) doctor's interview at respiratory disease clinics of three general hospitals in Japan, and another mode in phase II: 3) doctor's interview with an additional pamphlet at one of the three hospitals. The interviews for smokers were conducted by doctors in charge of treatment. Subject smoking habits were followed up by postal surveys three months after the enrollment. In phase I, 359 outpatients were recruited and 189 smokers responded, among whom 27 patients (7.5% of 359 outpatients) had quit smoking at the three months after the enrollment. The cessation rate of the self-administered questionnaire group (8.4% of 238 smokers) did not differ significantly from that of doctors' interview group (5.8% of 121 smokers). Age and intention to quit at enrollment were found to be independent predictors of smoking cessation. Patients aged 50 years or older (odds ratio=5.05, 95% confidence interval 1.89-13.54), and participants with an intention to quit (odds ratio=6.78, 95% confidence interval 2.66-17.30) were more likely to be successful in quitting. In phase II, another 212 smokers of one hospital were interviewed by doctors in charge and provided with an additional pamphlet describing how to practice to dislike smoking. No significant difference in the cessation rate was observed between phase I and phase II (5.8% vs. 8.0%). In conclusion, there were no differences among the three modes of "5A", but 7.7% of the 571 outpatients visiting respiratory divisions quit smoking with this simple "5A". The findings may indicate that this simple practice at clinics is useful for smoking cessation strategy, although randomized trials are now required.