Association between the rs3733846 in the flanking region of miR-143/145 and risk of cervical squamous cell carcinoma.

Aim: To investigate the effect of rs3733846 in the flanking region of miR-143/145 on susceptibility to cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Materials & methods: We collected venous blood samples from 242 CSCC patients and 250 healthy controls. The rs3733846 polymorphism was genotyped by SnaPshot and Sanger sequencing. The expression of miR-143/145 in CSCC tissues was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: The rs3733846 AG genotype was associated with a decreased risk of CSCC in genetic model (AGvs.AA: adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.30-0.66; p < 0.001). Patients with the rs3733846 AG/GG genotypes had a reduced risk of developing poorly differential status (OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.33-0.98; p < 0.04) and lymph node metastasis (OR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.26-0.92; p < 0.03). Conclusion: The rs3733846 in the flanking region of miR-143/145 was related to the susceptibility of CSCC.

A genetic variant rs13293512 in the promoter of let-7 is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in Chinese women.

Growing evidence has demonstrated that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter of miRNA may influence individuals' susceptibility to human diseases. We examined two SNPs rs10877887 and rs13293512 in the promoters of let-7 family to determine if the two SNPs were related to the occurrence of breast cancer (BC). Genotyping of the two SNPs was performed by PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis or TaqMan assay in 301 BC patients and 310 age matched controls. We found a higher frequency of rs13293512 CC genotype and rs13293512 C allele amongst BC patients (CC vs TT: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.14-2.80; P=0.012; C vs T: adjusted OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.06-1.67; P=0.013). Stratification analysis showed that rs13293512 CC genotype was associated with an increased risk of BC in patients with negative estrogen receptor (adjusted OR = 2.39; 95% CI: 1.32-4.30; P=0.004), patients with negative progesterone receptor (adjusted OR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.11-3.33; P=0.02), patients with T1-2 stage cancer (adjusted OR = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.07-2.93; P=0.03), and patients with N1-3 stage cancer (adjusted OR = 1.89; 95% CI: 1.13-3.17; P=0.015). These findings suggest that rs13293512 in the promoter of let-7a-1/let-7f-1/let-7d cluster may be a possible biomarker for the development of BC in Chinese women.

[Medicinal resources of Salvia yunnanensis].

Salvia yunnanensis is a habitually used medicinal plant in Yunnan. It distributed widely over the southwest China, and its contents of tanshinone II-A and protocatechuic aldehyde are higher than those of Salvia miltiorrhiza. Therefore, S. yunnanensis is one of the best resources of the medicinal plant.