Association of VNTR Polymorphism of NLRP3 Gene With the Risk of Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, including Iran, which has a high mortality rate. One of the effective factors in the development of gastric cancer is the increase in inflammation caused by the increase in the function of the cryopyrin protein, which is encoded by the NLRP3 gene in humans. Increased expression of this gene leads to the production of IL-1β and IL-18 cytokines and increases inflammation. Considering the important role of NLRP3 gene, in this study, the role of VNTR polymorphism in intron 4 of NLRP3 gene in susceptibility to gastric cancer was investigated.

In this study, VNTR polymorphism of NLRP3 gene was genotyped in 100 patients with gastric cancer and 88 healthy individuals by PCR technique. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS ν21 software and logistic regression test.

In this study, 15 different genotypes and 7 alleles were identified in the VNTR polymorphism of NLRP3 gene, of which 12 replicate alleles and 12.12 genotypes were the most frequence. Also, allele with 14 repeat were identified for the first time. Analysis of the results showed that genotype 12.12 increase the risk of gastric cancer compared with other genotypes (p value = 0.01, CI = 0.14 - 0.76, OR = 0.32).

It seems that genotype 12.12 in the intron 4 of NLRP3 gene increased the risk of gastric cancer.