The association between the COMT rs4680 (G>A, Val-158-Met) polymorphism and the risk of fibromyalgia has been investigated in previous studies, but the results are controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis has been performed to confirm the association between COMT rs4680 (G>A, Val-158-Met) polymorphism and the risk of fibromyalgia in this study. Our study includes eleven case-control studies with 2,909 individuals comprised of 1,365 fibromyalgia patients and 1,544 control subjects. The regression analysis was performed using the random effects model or the fixed effects model and OR with the corresponding 95 % CI was calculated for the allele, recessive, dominant, over-dominant, co-dominant 1, and co-dominant 2 model. No statistical significant associations were observed between COMT rs4680 (G>A, Val-158-Met) polymorphism and risk of fibromyalgia in allele model (P-value = 1.00), recessive model (P-value = 1.00), dominant model (P-value = 0.54), co-dominant 1 model (P-value = 1.00) and co-dominant 2 model (P-value = 1.00). In conclusion, our meta-analysis showed that the COMT rs4680(G>A, Val-158-Met) polymorphism might not be genetic risk factor for the fibromyalgia.

Abnormal HLA-G expression occurs in various diseases such as melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, asthma, and classic Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The purpose of this study was to determine whether HLA-G gene is linked with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). To investigate the possible link with susceptibility to OSCC, 54 OSCC patients and 120 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. HLA-G 14bp insertion/deletion polymorphism is in 3'-untranslated region of HLA-G gene. HLA-G 14bp insertion/deletion polymorphism was analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. For the analysis of genetic data, SPSS18.0 program was used. Logistic regression models were performed for odds ratio (OR), 95 percent confidence interval (CI), and p value. There was a significant difference in distribution allele between OSCC patients and control subjects (OR=0.018, 95% CI=0.002- 0.131, p<0.001). Our results suggest that HLA-G 14bp insertion/deletion polymorphism may be linked with susceptibility to OSCC in the Korean population.

The present study investigated an ethanol extract (HS0608) of a mixture of three medicinal plants of Curcumalongae radix, Phellinus linteus, and Scutellariae radix for possible neuroprotective effects on neurotoxicity induced by amyloid βprotein (Aβ) (25-35) in cultured rat cortical neurons and antidementia activity in mice. Exposure of cultured cortical neurons to10µM Aβ (25-35) for 36h induced neuronal apoptotic death. At 1-50㎍/㎖, HS0608 inhibited neuronal death, elevation of intra-cellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i), and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by Aβ (25-35) in primary cul-tures of rat cortical neurons. Memory loss induced by intracerebroventricular injection of ICR mice with 15 nmol Aβ (25-35) wasinhibited by chronic treatment with HS0608 (25, 50 and 100㎎/㎏, p.o. for 7 days) as measured by a passive avoidance test. Fromthese results, we suggest that the antidementia effect of HS0608 is due to its neuroprotective effect against Aβ (25-35)-inducedneurotoxicity and that HS0608 may have a therapeutic role in preventing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.