Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) level and 4G/5G genetic polymorphism in patients with colorectal cancer

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) content in colorectal cancer tiss ue extracts may be of strong prognostic value: high levels of PAI-1 in tumo rs predict poor prognosis. PAI-1 gene is highly polymorphic, and an inserti on (5G)/deletion (4G) polymorphism in the PAI-1 gene promoter (the 4G/5G po lymorphism), may have functional significance in PAI-1 expression. Tn the p resent work PAI-1 level and distribution of genotypes and frequency of alle les of the 4G/5G polymorphism in 25 subjects with colorectal cancer in samp les of cancer tissue and distant mucosa samples as well as in blood were st udied. PAI-1 level was measured by ELISA, and the 4G/5G polymorphism was de termined by PCR using allele specific primers, PAI-1 level in cancer tissue was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in distant mucosa, No differences between genotypes of the 4G/5G polymorphism in distant mucosa, cancer tiss ue, and blood of each patient were found. The distribution of the genotypes in the population under study did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) from those predicted by Hardy-Weinberg distribution. The results support a hypo thesis, that higher PAI-1 level is associated with colorectal cancer. Meanw hile 4G/5G polymorphism is not directly involved in the development of colo rectal cancer.