What is the risk factor for gastric cancer in a Costa Rican?

January 21, 2009

A research group from Costa Rican evaluated risk factors for gastric cancer in Costa Rican regions with contrasting gastric cancer incidence rates (GCIR). They found that although a pro-inflammatory cytokine genetic profile showed an increased risk for developing gastric cancer (GC), the characteristics of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, in particular the status of cagA and vacA genotype distribution seemed to play a major role in GCIR variability in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, one of the countries with the highest age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates for gastric cancer (GC), has regions with contrasting gastric cancer incidence rate (GCIR). Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a Gram-negative microaerobic bacterium that persistently colonizes the human gastric mucosa. There is an increased GC risk in subjects infected with H. pylori strains, especially those co-expressing the cagA, vacA s1 and babA2 genes. Cytokine gene polymorphisms of the host, IL-1beta, IL-1RN and IL-10, in response to H. pylori infection, have been also associated with an increased risk for developing gastric cancer.

A research team led by Dr. Sergio A Con from Costa Rica evaluated the potential impact of H. pylori and/or host genetic factors on GCIR variability in Costa Rica. Their study will be published on January 14, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

In their study, 191 H. pylori-positive patients were classified into groups A (high GCIR, n = 101) and B (low GCIR, n = 90). Human DNA obtained from biopsy specimens was used in the determination of polymorphisms of the genes coding for interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-10 by PCRRFLP, and IL-1RN by PCR. H. pylori DNA extractions obtained from clinical isolates of 83 patients were used for PCR-based genotyping of H. pylori cagA, vacA and babA2.

They found that cytokine polymorphisms showed no association with GCIR variability. However, gastric atrophy, intestinal metaplasia and strains with different vacA genotypes in the same stomach (mixed strain infection) were more frequently found in group A than in group B, and cagA and vacA s1b were significantly associated with high GCIR (P = 0.026 and 0.041, respectively).

Their result indicated that although a pro-inflammatory cytokine genetic profile showed an increased risk for developing GC, the characteristics of H. pylori infection, in particular the status of cagA and vacA genotype distribution seemed to play a major role in GCIR variability in Costa Rica.

Source: World Journal of Gastroenterology


Rank not rated yet
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Exercise and weight loss
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    createdFeb 07, 2012
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Declining health-care productivity in England: Who says so?

Reports that the National Health Service in England has been declining in productivity in the last decade appear to have been accepted as fact. However, a Viewpoint published Online First by The Lancet disputes this. The Vi ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 47 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Overeating may double risk of memory loss

New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 2 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV

A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created 6 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor

(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.

Medicine & Health / Health

created 7 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (58) | comments 15 | with audio podcast


Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...

New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside

There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...

A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell

Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...

Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact

Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.

Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

Researchers find extensive RNA editing in human transcriptome

In a new study published online in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the evidence of extensive RNA editing in a human cell line by analysis of RNA-seq data, demons ...