title: No association of pre-microRNA-146a rs2910164 polymorphism and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma development in Turkish population: a case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of small non-protein coding RNAs with posttranscriptional regulatory functions as tumor suppressors and oncogenes. Aberrant expression and structural alteration of miRNAs are considered to participate in tumorigenesis and cancer development. It has been suggested that the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms in precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs) can alter miRNA processing, expression, and/or binding to target mRNA and represent another type of genetic variability that can contribute to the susceptibility of human cancers. A G/C polymorphism (rs2910164), which is located in the sequence of miR-146a precursor, results in a change from G:U to C:U in its stem region.
  
  
  METHODS
  To determine the association of the miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in Turkish population, a hospital-based case-control study was designed consisting of 222 subjects with HCC and 222 cancer-free control subjects matched on age, gender, smoking and alcohol status. The genotype frequency of miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism was determined by using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No statistically significant differences were found in the allele or genotype distributions of the miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism among HCC and cancer-free control subjects (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate that the miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism has no major role in genetic susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinogenesis, at least in the population studied here. Independent studies are needed to validate our findings in a larger series, as well as in patients of different ethnic origins.
authors.affiliation: Çukurova University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hikmet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akkız
authors.forename: Süleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bayram
authors.forename: Aynur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bekar
authors.forename: Ersin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Akgöllü
authors.forename: Oğuz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Usküdar
authors.forename: Macit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sandıkçı
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; C542542:MIRN146 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs