부산대학교 도서관

This study evaluated the influence of genetic polymorphisms in the microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEPHX) gene on lung cancer risk in a case–control study of two different ethnic groups, Mexican–Americans and African–Americans. There were 138 lung cancer cases (60 Mexican–American and 78 African–American) and 148 controls (76 Mexican–American and 72 African–American). There was a significant difference in the distribution of the mEPHX exon 4 polymorphism between the two ethnic groups with African–Americans more likely to be heterozygous and Mexican–Americans to be wild-type. There was no significant difference between the ethnic groups for the allelic distribution of the mEPHX exon 3 polymorphism. When the exon 4 and exon 3 polymorphism distributions in cases and controls were examined by ethnicity, only the Mexican–American cases showed a substantial proportion with the exon 4 polymorphism. The exon 4 polymorphism was associated with a significantly increased risk of lung cancer only among the Mexican–American cases (adjusted OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.26, 10.42). Younger Mexican–Americans with the exon 4 polymorphism had a greater risk of lung cancer than older members of their groups (adjusted OR 7.4, 95% CI 1.36, 40.23; 1.6, 95% CI 0.33, 7.80, respectively). The exon 3 polymorphism did not appear to significantly increase the risk of lung cancer in all but one study group examined. Mexican–Americans younger than 65 years did demonstrate an elevated risk of lung cancer (adjusted OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.19, 17.56). However, no statistically significant risk was observed in the African–American study groups for both exon 3 and exon 4 polymorphisms. These findings suggest that the presence of the exon 4 and exon 3 polymorphisms of mEPHX may be associated with an increased risk of lung cancer particularly among younger Mexican–Americans in this study.