Abstract

BACKGROUND: Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNA (miRNA) networks may serve as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of a variety of diseases such as cancer. Some studies have been performed to examine associations between miR-149 and miR-608 polymorphisms and susceptibility to colorectal cancer, but the results remain controversial and race-dependent. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to investigate the association of miR-608 (rs4919510) and miR- 149 (rs2292832) with colorectal cancer and its clinical features in a sample of Iranian population. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted on 76 CRC cases and 70 controls. Genotyping was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCRRFLP) method. To confirm the RFLP process, 10 of the PCR products were validated by direct sequencing. RESULTS: Our findings showed significant correlation between adjusted data of rs2292832 with sex and age in TT genotype (OR= 5.148, 95 CI=1.081 +/- 24.511, P=0.04). Distribution of rs4919510 polymorphism was not significantly different between controls and patients (CG, adjusted OR= 1.243, 95 CI=0.546 +/- 2.831; P=0.604 and GG, adjusted OR= 0.249, 95 CI=0.063 +/- 0.959; P=0.05). On the other hand, our results showed that a significant correlation was present between metastatic clinicopathological features and miR-608 (rs4919510) polymorphism (P=0.044). CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal that genotypes of rs2292832 and rs4919510 are not associated with risk of colorectal cancer in Iranian population. Moreover, the CC genotype of rs4919510 contributes to the metastatic features of the colorectal cancer.