EKC2023

[P40-LH]Interaction between vitamin E intake and a COMT gene variant on colorectal cancer risk: a case-control study

Not scheduled

20m

Poster Poster(Thu)

Speaker

Shinyoung Jun (National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy)

Description

Background: Previous human trials failed to support the anticarcinogenic effect of vitamin E despite biological plausibility and considerable epidemiological evidence. One of the explanations for this inconsistency was the interactive effect of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and supplemental vitamin E on cancer (1). We examined whether a COMT gene variant modulates the effect of dietary vitamin E intake on colorectal cancer (CRC) risk.
Methods: In this case‒control study of Korean adults (975 cases and 975 age- and sex-matched controls), dietary energy intake (kcal/day) and vitamin E density (mg/1,000 kcal) were measured using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, COMT SNP rs740603 (A>G) was genotyped, and CRC was verified histologically. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using unconditional logistic regression models with adjustment for potential confounders, including age, sex, total energy intake, first-degree family history of CRC, smoking, drinking, education, and obesity.
Results: Higher vitamin E density was associated with a lower risk of CRC (the highest vs. lowest quartiles; OR 0.72, 95% CI: 0.55, 0.96; p-for-trend=0.0018). When stratified by COMT SNP rs740603 genotype(A/A+A/G vs. G/G), the inverse association between vitamin E density and CRC risk was confined to those with at least one A allele (≥median vs. <median; OR 0.63, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.78). The interaction between COMT SNP rs740603 and vitamin E density was significant (p-for-interaction=0.0204). No direct association was observed between COMT SNP rs740603 and CRC risk (OR 0.92, 95% CI: 0.71, 1.20).
Conclusions: Our findings support that the COMT gene variant modified the association between dietary vitamin E intake and CRC in a way that vitamin E was inversely associated with CRC risk only in carriers of the COMT rs740603 A allele. These findings add key evidence to the literature of nutrient-gene interactions affecting CRC risk and may inform future precision nutrition research and practice for cancer prevention.

References

1. Hall KT, Buring JE, Mukamal KJ, Vinayaga Moorthy M, Wayne PM, Kaptchuk TJ, et al. COMT and Alpha-Tocopherol Effects in Cancer Prevention: Gene-Supplement Interactions in Two Randomized Clinical Trials. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2019;111(7):684-94.