title: Association of CHKA polymorphism (rs3794186) with α-fetoprotein levels             in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Choline kinase α (CHKA) has been identified to be associated with cancer             development and progression. In this study, we investigated whether exonic single             nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the CHKA gene are associated with hepatocellular             carcinoma (HCC). Among all SNPs in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR), 5'-UTR and             the coding region of CHA, only two SNPs (rs3794186 and rs11481) in the 3'-UTR             had a heterozygosity above 0.1 and a minor allele frequency above 0.1. Therefore,             we selected and assessed these two SNPs (rs3794186 and rs11481) in 189 HCC patients             and 194 controls. Genetic data were analyzed using the SNPAnalyzer Pro, SNPStats             and Haploview programs. No SNPs of the CHKA gene were found to be associated with             the risk of HCC development. Upon analysis of the clinical characteristics of             HCC, the genotypic frequency of rs3794186 was significantly associated with serum             α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels (P=0.022 in the co-dominant 1 model, P=0.0045 in the             dominant model and P=0.0052 in the log-additive model). A significant difference             in the allelic frequency of rs3794186 was also observed between the high AFP (>200 ng/ml)             group and the low AFP (≤200 ng/ml) group [P=0.009, odds ratio (OR) = 0.33, 95%             confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.14-0.75]. The T allele frequency of rs3794186             was lower in the high AFP group (6.6%) compared to that in the low AFP group (17.8%).             Our results suggest that CHKA SNPs (rs3794186 and rs11481) are not associated             with HCC development; however, rs3794186 may correlate with serum AFP levels in             HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University,                     Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Su
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Su Kang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyun Phil
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Sang Mok
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joo-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002797:Choline Kinase / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; C517212:CHKA protein, human; D002797:Choline Kinase