Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Xizang Minzu University, Xianyang 712000, China.
Nutrients. 2024 Apr 28;16(9):1322. doi: 10.3390/nu16091322.
The role of selenium in the developmental process of esophageal cancer (EC) requires further investigation. To explore the relationship between selenium-related factors and EC through bioinformatic analysis, a case-control study was conducted to verify the results. Utilizing the GEPIA and TCGA databases, we delineated the differential expression of glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) in EC and normal tissues, identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and a performed visualization analysis. Additionally, 100 pairs of dietary and plasma samples from esophageal precancerous lesions (EPLs) of esophageal squamous cancer (ESCC) cases and healthy controls from Huai'an district, Jiangsu, were screened. The levels of dietary selenium, plasma selenium, and related enzymes were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) or ELISA kits. The results showed lower GPx3 expression in tumor tissues compared to normal tissues. Further analysis revealed that DEGs were mainly involved in the fat digestion and absorption pathway, and the core protein fatty acid binding protein 1 (FABP1) was significantly upregulated and negatively correlated with GPx3 expression. Our case-control study found that selenium itself was not associated with EPLs risk. However, both the decreased concentration of GPx3 and the increase in FABP1 were positively correlated with the EPLs risk ( for trend = 0.035 and 0.046, respectively). The different expressions of GPx3 and FABP1 reflect the potential of selenium for preventing ESCC at the EPLs stage. GPx3 may affect myocardial infarction through FABP1, which remains to be further studied.
硒在食管癌（EC）发育过程中的作用需要进一步研究。为了通过生物信息学分析探讨硒相关因素与 EC 的关系，进行了病例对照研究以验证结果。利用 GEPIA 和 TCGA 数据库，我们描绘了谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶 3（GPx3）在 EC 和正常组织中的差异表达，鉴定了差异表达基因（DEGs），并进行了可视化分析。此外，从江苏淮安地区食管癌前病变（EPL）的食管癌病例和健康对照中筛选了 100 对饮食和血浆样本。使用电感耦合等离子体质谱（ICP-MS）或 ELISA 试剂盒分析饮食硒、血浆硒和相关酶的水平。结果表明，肿瘤组织中 GPx3 的表达低于正常组织。进一步分析表明，DEGs 主要参与脂肪消化和吸收途径，核心蛋白脂肪酸结合蛋白 1（FABP1）显著上调且与 GPx3 表达呈负相关。我们的病例对照研究发现，硒本身与 EPL 风险无关。然而，GPx3 浓度降低和 FABP1 增加均与 EPL 风险呈正相关（趋势检验=0.035 和 0.046）。GPx3 和 FABP1 的不同表达反映了硒在 EPL 阶段预防 ESCC 的潜力。GPx3 可能通过 FABP1 影响心肌梗死，这有待进一步研究。
