Brief Article
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2012; 18(24): 3112-3118
Published online Jun 28, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i24.3112
Decreased blood riboflavin levels are correlated with defective expression of RFT2 gene in gastric cancer
Maynur Eli, De-Sheng Li, Wei-Wei Zhang, Bing Kong, Chen-Song Du, Maimaitiaili Wumar, Batur Mamtimin, Ilyar Sheyhidin, Ayshamgul Hasim
Maynur Eli, Wei-Wei Zhang, Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Medical University of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830054, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
De-Sheng Li, Ilyar Sheyhidin, Department of Thoracic Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital, Medical University of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830054, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Bing Kong, Batur Mamtimin, Centers of Pharmaceutical Analysis, College of Pharmacy, Medical University of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Chen-Song Du, Maimaitiaili Wumar, Ayshamgul Hasim, Department of Pathology, College of Basic Medicine, Medical University of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Author contributions: Hasim A and Sheyhidin I contributed equally to this work; Hasim A and Sheyhidin I designed the research and wrote the paper; Eli M, Zhang WW, Kong B and Du CS performed most of the experiments; Li DS and Wumar M collected human material and contributed to analytic tools; Mamtimin B analyzed the data in addition to providing financial support for this work.
Supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81160459
Correspondence to: Dr. Ayshamgul Hasim, Department of Pathology, College of Basic Medicine, Medical University of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. ayshamgul75@sina.com
Telephone: +86-991-4361012 Fax: +86-991-4327997
Received: December 5, 2011
Revised: January 5, 2012
Accepted: March 9, 2012
Published online: June 28, 2012
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the relationship between blood riboflavin levels and riboflavin transporter 2 (RFT2) gene expression in gastric carcinoma (GC) development.

METHODS: High-performance liquid chromatography was used to detect blood riboflavin levels in patients with GC. Real-time fluorogenic quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze the expression of RFT2 mRNA and protein in samples from 60 GC patients consisting of both tumor and normal tissue.

RESULTS: A significant decrease in the RFT2 mRNA levels was detected in GC samples compared with those in the normal mucous membrane (0.398 ± 0.149 vs 1.479 ± 0.587; P = 0.040). Tumors exhibited low RFT2 protein expression (75%, 16.7%, 8.3% and 0% for no RFT2 staining, weak staining, medium staining and strong staining, respectively), which was significantly lower than that in the normal mucous membrane (10%, 16.7%, 26.7% and 46.7% for no RFT2 staining, weak staining, medium staining and strong staining, respectively; P < 0.05). Tumors with low RFT2 expression were significantly associated with tumor stage and histological grade. Moreover, a significantly decrease in Uyghur patients was observed compared with Han patients. However, other parameters-gender, tumor location and lymph node metastasis-showed no significant relationship with RFT2 expression. Blood riboflavin levels were reverse correlated with development of GC (1.2000 ± 0.97 569 ng/mL in high tumor stage patients vs 2.5980 ± 1.31 129 ng/mL in low tumor stage patients; P < 0.05). A positive correlation of plasma riboflavin levels with defective expression of RFT2 protein was found in GC patients (χ2 = 2.619; P = 0.019).

CONCLUSION: Defective expression of RFT2 is associated with the development of GC and this may represent a mechanism underlying the decreased plasma riboflavin levels in GC.

Keywords: Gastric carcinoma, Riboflavin transporter 2 gene, Riboflavin, Prognosis, High-performance liquid chromatography