Abstract
BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the relationships of chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes with the development of uterine cervical cancer in Taiwanese women. The SNPs frequencies and haplotypes were also correlated with the clinicopathologic variables of cervical cancer, cancer recurrence, and patient survival.Methodology and Principal FindingsNinety-nine patients with invasive cancer and 61 with pre-cancerous lesions of the uterine cervix were compared to 310 healthy control subjects. Three SNPs rs6691378 (−1371, G/A), rs10399805 (−247, G/A) and rs4950928 (−131, C/G) in the promoter region, and one SNP rs880633 (+2950, T/C) in exon 5 were analyzed by real time polymerase chain reaction and genotyping. The results showed that the mutant homozygous genotype AA of CHI3L1 SNP rs6691378 and AA of rs10399805, and haplotypes AACC and AACT increased the risk of developing pre-cancerous lesions and invasive cancer. The patients with these risk haplotypes had higher than stage I tumors, larger tumors, and vaginal invasion. In logistic regression model, they also tended to have poor survival event [p = 0.078; odds ratio (OR): 2.99, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89–10.08] and a higher probability of recurrence event (p = 0.081; OR: 3.07, 95% CI: 0.87–10.81). There was a significant association between the CHI3L1 risk haplotypes and probability of recurrence (p = 0.002; hazard ratio: 6.21, 95% CI: 1.90–20.41), and a marginal association between the risk haplotypes and overall survival (p = 0.051; hazard ratio: 3.76, 95% CI: 0.99–14.29) in the patients with SCC, using Cox proportional hazard model.ConclusionThe CHI3L1 SNPs rs6691378 and rs10399805 and CHI3L1 haplotypes all correlated with the development of cervical pre-cancerous lesions and invasive cancer. The cervical cancer patients with the CHI3L1 haplotypes AACC or AACT had poor clinicopathologic characteristics and poor recurrence and survival events. These risk haplotypes were associated with higher recurrence, especially in the patients with SCC.
Highlights
Chitinase3-like1 (CHI3L1) is a glycoprotein encoded by the chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) gene located on human chromosome 1q32.1 [1]
The CHI3L1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs6691378 and rs10399805 and CHI3L1 haplotypes all correlated with the development of cervical pre-cancerous lesions and invasive cancer
Kjaergaard et al used a population-based prospective study of the Danish general population to investigate the genetic variants of CHI3L1 that influence YKL-40 levels, and found that eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the CHI3L1 gene are associated with plasma YKL-40 levels in the general population [8]
Summary
Chitinase3-like (CHI3L1) is a glycoprotein encoded by the chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) gene located on human chromosome 1q32.1 [1]. This glycoprotein is often referred to as YKL-40 or human cartilage glycoprotein-39 (HC gp-39) and is known to be a pro-inflammatory cytokine of chitinase [2,3] It is a secreted protein with a molecular weight of 40 kD and is identified by the N-terminal sequencing to be tyrosine (abbreviated as Y), lysine (K), and leucine (L) [4]. Kjaergaard et al used a population-based prospective study of the Danish general population to investigate the genetic variants of CHI3L1 that influence YKL-40 levels, and found that eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the CHI3L1 gene are associated with plasma YKL-40 levels in the general population [8]. The SNPs frequencies and haplotypes were correlated with the clinicopathologic variables of cervical cancer, cancer recurrence, and patient survival
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