Polymorphisms of AZIN1 rs2679757 and TRPM5 rs886277 are Associated with Cirrhosis Risk in Chinese Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

Objective Genome-wide association studies(GWAS)have linked many single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)to the outcomes of a variety of liver diseases.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of several candidate SNPs with the risk and severity of cirrhosis due to chronic hepatitis B in a Chinese population.Methods A total of 714 Chinese participants with persistent HBV infection were studied.Patients were divided into cirrhotic(n=429)and non-cirrhotic(n=285)groups based on clinical and pathological evidence.The progression rate and severity of liver cirrhosis were evaluated with an arbitrary t-score system.Genotypes of six SNPs in five candidate genes were detected with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF MS).The genotypic distributions of the SNPs were compared between the age-matched cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic subjects.The association between the risk of SNPs and the severity and progression rate of cirrhosis was further analyzed.Results Rs2679757 polymorphism of the antizyme inhibitor 1(AZIN1)gene and Rs886277 in the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M,member 5 gene(TRPM5)were found to be associated with cirrhosis risk in CHB.They were also correlated with the overall severity and progression rate of cirrhosis.Genotype frequencies of other SNPs were not different between the cirrhosis and non-cirrhosis groups.Conclusions AZIN1 rs2679757 and TRPM5 rs886277 are associated with the risk and the progression rate of HBV-related liver fibrosis in Chinese patients.The emerging SNPs associated with cirrhosis prognosis warrant further clinical validation in other CHB cohorts or ethnic groups,and merit mechanistic studies to reveal their roles in fibrosis progression.

Activation of the bitter taste sensor TRPM5 prevents high saltinduced cardiovascular dysfunction

High salt intake is a known risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. Our recent study demonstrated that long-term high salt intake impairs transient receptor potential channel M5(TRPM5)-mediated aversion to high salt concentrations, consequently promoting high salt intake and hypertension;however, it remains unknown whether TRPM5 activation ameliorates cardiovascular dysfunction. Herein we found that bitter melon extract(BME) and cucurbitacin E(CuE), a major compound in BME, lowered high salt-induced hypertension. Long-term BME intake significantly enhanced the aversion to high salt concentrations by upregulating TRPM5 expression and function, eventually decreasing excessive salt consumption in mice. Moreover, dietary BME ameliorated high salt-induced cardiovascular dysfunction and angiotensin II-induced hypertension in vivo. The mechanistic evidence demonstrated that dietary BME inhibited high salt-induced RhoA/Rho kinase pathway overactivation, leading to reduced phosphorylation levels of myosin light chain kinase and myosin phosphatase targeting subunit 1. Furthermore, CuE inhibited vasoconstriction by attenuating L-type Ca^(2+) channel-induced Ca^(2+) influx in vascular smooth muscle cells. To summarize, our findings indicate that dietary BME has a beneficial role in antagonizing excessive salt consumption and thus appears promising for the prevention of high salt-induced cardiovascular dysfunction.