Selenium May Be Involved in Esophageal Squamous Cancer Prevention by Affecting GPx3 and FABP1 Expression: A Case-Control Study Based on Bioinformatic Analysis

• Published in: Nutrients 2024-04, Vol.16 (9), p.1322
• Main Authors: Wang, Niannian, Pan, Da, Zhu, Xiaopan, Ren, Xingyuan, Jin, Xingyi, Chen, Xiangjun, Wang, Yuanyuan, Su, Ming, Sun, Guiju, Wang, Shaokang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Antioxidants; Cancer; Case-Control Studies; Computational Biology - methods; Endoscopy; Esophageal cancer; Esophageal Neoplasms - genetics; Esophageal Neoplasms - prevention & control; esophageal precancerous lesions; Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma - genetics; Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma - prevention & control; esophagus cancer; FABP1; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins - genetics; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Fatty acids; Female; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genes; Genomes; Glutathione Peroxidase - blood; Glutathione Peroxidase - genetics; Glutathione Peroxidase - metabolism; GPx3; Humans; Male; Medical prognosis; Middle Aged; Mortality; Oncology, Experimental; Prevention; Protein binding; Proteins; Selenium; Selenium - blood
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• 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.