Abstract.A widely-expressed protein tyrosine phosphatase, SHP-2, regulates apoB secretion by insulin. We hypothesised that a variation in the SHP-2 gene, PTPN11, may interact with smoking to influence serum lipid concentrations. The study comprised 794 subjects (278 males and 516 females), aged 39-88 years, who attended a health examination in Hokkaido, Japan in 2003. Subjects were genotyped for a G/A PTPN11 polymorphism (rs2301756). The mean serum LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, stratified by genotype, were compared between current and non-(never or ex-) smokers. Among the AA genotype carriers, LDL cholesterol levels were significantly decreased in current vs. nonsmokers [mean ± SD, 101±34 mg/dl vs. 146±40 mg/dl; b (adjusted mean difference) = -56.0; 95% CI -102.8 to -9.3; p=0.019 after adjustment for age, sex and body mass index]. In contrast, HDL cholesterol levels were increased in current vs. non-smokers (66±5 mg/dl vs. 58±12 mg/dl; b=14.9; 95% CI 3.1 to 26.8; p=0.014 after adjustment). The interaction between a current smoking habit and the AA genotype had a significant effect on LDL and HDL cholesterol (LDL-C, p=0.039; HDL-C, p=0.020). These data suggest that cigarette smoking might alter the metabolism of cholesterol in Japanese PTPN11 AA genotype carriers.
IntroductionCigarette smoking and an increased level of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) or decreased level of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Increases in LDL-C levels and decreases in HDL-C levels have been observed in smokers (1), and a positive multiplicative interaction between smoking and LDL-C levels in coronary heart disease incidence has been observed (2). Cigarette smoking is an oxidative stress that causes genetic damage (3) and can either up-or downregulate gene expression levels (4). Studies have tried to clarify the effect of the gene-smoking interaction on lipid concentrations (5,6), and have revealed that both genetic variants and environmental factors, including a current smoking habit, influence serum cholesterol levels (7).Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 (SHP-2) is a widely-expressed protein tyrosine phosphatase (8) that regulates both acute and adaptive control of apoB secretion by insulin (9-11). The PTPN11 gene, which encodes SHP-2, is on chromosome 12 and contains 16 exons. Jamshidi et al selected three tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs11066322, rs11066320 and rs2301756, and demonstrated in a Caucasian female population that PTPN11 rs11066322 was associated with apoB levels and rs11066320 with LDL-C levels (12). However, the NCBI Variation Database shows that, in the Japanese population, SNP rs11066320 does not exist or is very rare, while rs11066322 and rs2301756 are in nearly complete linkage disequilibrium with each other. We therefore selected rs2301756, (IMS-JST057927 in the Japan Single Nucleotide Polymorphism database), located in intron 3, 223-bp upstream of exon 4, as a candidate SNP influencing LDL-C levels among the ...