Repetitive Element DNA Methylation is Associated with Menopausal Age.

To investigate associations between the age of menopause and the DNA methylation levels of two repetitive elements, Alu and LINE-1, we performed plasma DNA extraction on 161 subjects and serum cell-free DNA extraction on 120 subjects. We grouped women by menopausal age as follows: ≤ 48 years (earlier menopause), ≥ 52 years (later menopause), and 48-52 years (control). The DNA methylation levels of Alu and LINE-1 were measured by MethyLight PCR.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphism in endometrial cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis of case-controlled prospective or retrospective studies to assess the effect of MTHFR polymorphisms on the risk of developing endometrial cancer.

Materials And Methods: PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and ISI Web of Knowledge were searched (up to March 2014) for prospective or retrospective case-controlled studies that investigated the association of three MTHFR polymorphisms (rs180113 [C677T], rs1801131 [A1289C], and rs2274976 [G1793A]) with endometrial cancer.

Results: The patient population included subjects from three separate countries: China, Spain, and the USA.

Clinical significance of V600E mutation in 154 patients with thyroid nodules.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of the V600E mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients from eastern coastal China and to determine whether it is correlated with the clinicopathological features of PTCs with or without current Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT). The V600E mutation status was analyzed in 206 thyroid nodules of 154 patients undergoing thyroidectomy using polymerase chain reaction and bi-directional sequencing. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the association of the V600E mutation with clinicopathological features.

Polymorphisms of Genes Involved in the Folate Metabolic Pathway Impact the Occurrence of Unexplained Recurrent Pregnancy Loss.

Low levels of folate combined with high levels of homocysteine may cause unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (URPL). However, the relationships between polymorphisms in genes of the folate metabolic pathway and URPL remain controversial. We conducted a case-control study to explore polymorphisms of the major folate pathway genes, including methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, methionine synthase (MTR) 2756A>G, methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) 66A>G and reduced folate carrier 1 (RFC-1) 80A>G, and their associations with URPL.