Some previous studies suggested telomere length was associated with the risk of ischemic stroke (IS). The aim of this study was to further confirm the association between relative telomere length (RTL) and risk of IS and to especially explore its correlation with the risk of high-risk stroke population in southern Chinese Han. RTL was determined by using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction from 400 ischemic stroke patients, 409 high-risk stroke populations and 399 healthy controls. The correlations between the controls and the risk of high-risk and ischemic stroke were evaluated by using an unconditional logistic regression. IS patients have shown longer RTL than controls (median1.52vs1.11, p<0.001), while the high-risk stroke populations have shorter RTL than controls (median 1.05vs1.11, p=0.027). As compared with the second tertile, the first and third tertile were associated with the elevated risks of ischemic stroke (OR=2.88, 95%CI 1.88-4.41, p<0.001; OR=6.62, 95%CI 4.32-10.15, p<0.001) after adjustment for age and gender, while no significant differences were observed in high-risk stroke populations. Further analysis stratified by age (age≤60 years and >60 years) and gender suggested that the first and second tertile of RTL were correlated with the risk of IS in each group when the second tertile was used as a reference. However, the increased risk for high-risk stroke populations were only presented in the first tertile of RTL in the age≤60 years and female groups. the RTL was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, while it elevated the risk of high-risk stroke in some specific subpopulations.

ABSTRACT. The ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2B gene (UBE2B) is involved in the regular and symmetric organization of the fibrous sheath of sperm flagella. This study aimed to examine the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in UBE2B and infertility in Northeast Chinese men. We carried out a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for SNPs in 312 fertile males and 388 infertile males in Northeast China. Taking advantage of the high degree of linkage disequilibrium among SNPs surrounding UBE2B (r 2 > 0.90), we selected 2 haplotype-tagging SNPs with a minor allele frequency of 5% or greater (rs17167484: g.-293T>G and rs3777373: g.20016A>G) that captured the majority of the genetic variations in a 40-kbp region of this gene. No significant differences UBE2B polymorphisms and male infertility between cases and controls were found in the allelic and genotype distribution of the 2 SNPs. However, the haplotype analysis for the 2 SNPs showed that the GA haplotype was significantly associated with a greater than 3-fold decreased risk of male infertility (P = 0.003). Because the frequency of the GA haplotype (1.1%) is relatively low in Chinese men, such a significant finding may occur by chance, but the results are still significant after multiple comparison adjustments (P = 0.012 after Bonferroni's correction). We conclude that the UBE2B polymorphisms g.-293T>G, g.20016A>G and g.9157A>G are not associated with male infertility, and the GA haplotype is likely a protective factor for male fertility in Northeast Chinese men.

Some previous studies suggested telomere length was associated with the risk of ischemic stroke (IS). The aim of this study was to further confirm the association between relative telomere length (RTL) and risk of IS and to especially explore its correlation with the risk of high-risk stroke population in southern Chinese Han. RTL was determined by using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction from 400 ischemic stroke patients, 409 high-risk stroke populations and 399 healthy controls. The correlations between the controls and the risk of high-risk and ischemic stroke were evaluated by using an unconditional logistic regression. IS patients have shown longer RTL than controls (median1.52vs1.11, p60 years) and gender suggested that the first and second tertile of RTL were correlated with the risk of IS in each group when the second tertile was used as a reference. However, the increased risk for high-risk stroke populations were only presented in the first tertile of RTL in the age≤60 years and female groups. the RTL was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, while it elevated the risk of high-risk stroke in some specific subpopulations.

Previous studies showed an association between the ZNF208 gene and gastric cancer. In this study, we investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ZNF208 and the risk of esophageal cancer in a Chinese Han population. We conducted a case-control study that included 386 cases and 495 controls. Five SNPs were selected from previous genome-wide association studies and genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals after adjustment for age and gender. Logistic regressionl analysis showed that two SNPs (rs8103163 and rs7248488) were associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer under different inheritance models after Bonferroni correction. Haplotype analysis suggested that the four variants comprised one block, and that the Grs2188972Crs2188971Crs8103163Crs7248488 haplotype was significantly correlated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer. Our data indicate that variants in ZNF208 are contribute to the susceptibility to esophageal cancer in a Chinese Han population.