Genetic Polymorphism of GSTP1 Gene and Lung Cancer Risk in Northern Romania

Cătană Andreea¹, Popp RA¹, Pop Monica², Porojan MD³, Petrișor Felicia¹, Fărcaș M¹, Pop IV¹

1 Department of Molecular Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2 Department of Medical Specialities, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
3 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Background: Glutathione S transferase P1 – an important member of the xenobiotic encoding enzymes, might contribute to the variability in individual susceptibility to lung cancer and may be important in exposure to carcinogens and therefore lung cancer development in smokers.
Objectives: This is a cross-sectional, randomized, case-control study for the evaluation of the frequency of GSTP1 alleles among patients with lung cancer.
Subjects and methods: The study included 108 cases of lung cancer diagnosed patients (histopathological examination), and 123 healthy unrelated controls. GSTP1 genotyping was carried out using PCR amplification of relevant gene fragment, followed by restriction enzyme digestion. Detection of GSTP1 alleles was determined by analysis of resulting restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), followed by gel electrophoresis.
Results: Molecular analysis revealed an increased frequency of GSTP1 mutant genotype in the study group compared to the control group (X2 = 0.133, p = 0.049, OR = 1.726, CI = 1–2.977). It appears that the effect of the GSTP1 mutant allele may vary according to histological subtype. The polymorphic I105V allele of GSTP1 gene was associated with an increased risk of lung adenocarcinoma.
Conclusions: GSTP1 polymorphism may be associated with increased risk to lung cancer and the homozygous Ile105Val genotype was found at a significantly higher frequency in the adenocarcinoma group.