miR-30a promoter variation contributes to the increased risk of colorectal cancer in an Iranian population

Cytochrome P450 family 24 subfamily A member 1 (CYP24A1) gene is overexpressed in many cancers including colorectal cancer (CRC) and correlated with tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and the reduced overall survival. We predicted that miR-30a and miR-125a regulate the CYp24A1 gene expression. Therefore, we performed a case-control study using 800 individuals, including 389 patients with CRC and 411 noncancer controls to evaluate the association between miR-30a rs2222722 and miR-125a rs12976445 polymorphisms, located at in the promoter region, and the risk of sporadic CRC in an Iranian population. The genotyping assay for both polymorphisms was performed using Tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation systems polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that the frequency of the miR-30a rs2222722 CT genotype was significantly different in the studied groups (P = 0.0001; odds ratio [OR] = 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39-2.60). Also, a significant difference was observed under the dominant inheritance model (P = 0.0001; OR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.33-2.43). The frequency of the miR-30a rs2222722 T allele was significantly associated with increased CRC risk in the studied population (P = 0.0019; OR = 1.47; 95% CI, 1.15-1.89). Taken together, our study provides preliminary evidence that the rs2222722 polymorphism increases the susceptibility to CRC in an Iranian population. Therefore, the affecting factors on CYP24A1 gene expression such as microRNAs can be considered as risk factors for CRC.