Xu Jianfeng, Thornburg Todd, Turner Aubrey R, Vitolins Mara, Case Doug, Shadle John, Hinson Lisa, Sun Jielin, Liu Wennuan, Chang Baoli, Adams Tamara S, Zheng S Lilly, Torti Frank M
Center for Human Genomics, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Prostate. 2005 May 15;63(3):209-14. doi: 10.1002/pros.20233.
Recent findings of over-expression of the AMACR gene in prostate cancer and association between sequence variants in the AMACR gene and prostate cancer risk, along with the well established findings of association between prostate cancer risk and over-consumption of dairy products and red meat, indirectly suggest that phytanic acid, which primarily comes from dietary intake of dairy and red meat and requires the AMACR enzyme for its metabolism, may be associated with prostate cancer risk. In this small case-control study, we assessed the association between phytanic acid levels and prostate cancer risk.
One hundred and four prostate cancer patients and controls were recruited in North Carolina. Serum levels of phytanic acid were measured using a gas liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy analysis, and a food frequency questionnaire was administered to each individual to assess dietary intake.
Three key findings are reported. First, there was a high correlation between two independent measurements of phytanic acid levels from the same individuals and the levels of phytanic acid were within the expected range, suggesting that serum levels of phytanic acid levels can be reliably measured in large epidemiological studies. Second, serum levels of phytanic acid among prostate cancer patients were significantly higher than that of unaffected controls, suggesting an association between phytanic acid and prostate cancer risk. Lastly, there was a significantly positive correlation between serum levels of phytanic acid and dietary intake of dairy and red meat servings during the year prior to the serum measurement.
Although the results from our study suggest phytanic acid levels may be associated with prostate cancer risk, they were based on a study with a small sample size. Much larger studies are required to confirm these important findings.
近期研究发现，AMACR基因在前列腺癌中过表达，且该基因的序列变异与前列腺癌风险相关。此外，已有充分证据表明，前列腺癌风险与过量摄入乳制品和红肉有关。这些发现间接表明，主要来源于乳制品和红肉饮食摄入且代谢需要AMACR酶的植烷酸，可能与前列腺癌风险相关。在这项小型病例对照研究中，我们评估了植烷酸水平与前列腺癌风险之间的关联。
在北卡罗来纳州招募了104名前列腺癌患者和对照。使用气液色谱/质谱分析法测量血清植烷酸水平，并对每个人进行食物频率问卷调查以评估饮食摄入量。
报告了三项主要发现。首先，对同一受试者的植烷酸水平进行的两次独立测量之间具有高度相关性，且植烷酸水平在预期范围内，这表明在大型流行病学研究中可以可靠地测量血清植烷酸水平。其次，前列腺癌患者的血清植烷酸水平显著高于未受影响的对照组，这表明植烷酸与前列腺癌风险之间存在关联。最后，血清植烷酸水平与血清测量前一年的乳制品和红肉饮食摄入量之间存在显著正相关。
尽管我们的研究结果表明植烷酸水平可能与前列腺癌风险相关，但这些结果基于一个小样本量的研究。需要更大规模的研究来证实这些重要发现。
