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Interleukin-22 genetic polymorphisms and risk of colon cancer

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Abstract

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is a member of the IL-10 family of anti-inflammatory cytokines that mediates epithelial immunity. IL-22 expression is enhanced in inflamed colon mucosa in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease. We carried out an association study to examine the hypothesis that common variation in the IL-22 gene is associated with risk of colon cancer. Seven tagging SNPs were genotyped in 561 colon cancer cases and 722 population controls. Information on lifestyle risk factors was collected via a self-administered questionnaire. The rs1179251 SNP conferred an estimated odds ratio (OR) of 1.46 (95% CI = 1.04–2.05) and 2.10 (95% CI = 0.66–6.66), respectively, for those heterozygous and homozygous for the G variant (p additive = 0.013) after adjustment for age, gender, and race; the OR assuming a dominant model was 1.50 (95% CI = 1.05–2.08, p dominant = 0.016). No other SNP was statistically significantly associated with colon cancer risk. Haplotype analysis found that one haplotype containing the rs1179251 G allele gave an estimated 52% increase in risk of colon cancer for individuals with at least one copy (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.12–2.06, p = 0.0073). Our findings suggest that the rs1179251 SNP in IL-22 is associated with risk of colon cancer.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by an R25 and K07 training grants and an R01 research grant from the National Cancer Institute (R25 CA094186, K07 CA136758, R01 CA136726), the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Clinical Investigator Award (CI-8), Case Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (U54 CA116867), and National Cancer Institute K22 Award (K22 CA120545). The authors wish to thank Svetlana Zelenskiy for her assistance in constructing the tables.

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Correspondence to Li Li.

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Thompson, C.L., Plummer, S.J., Tucker, T.C. et al. Interleukin-22 genetic polymorphisms and risk of colon cancer. Cancer Causes Control 21, 1165–1170 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9542-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9542-5

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