Association study between SNPs in MST1 and MST2 genes and H. pylori infection as well as non-cardia gastric carcinogenesis

Introduction Gastric cancer (GC) remains a global health challenge, and H. pylori infection is a main risk factor for non-cardia GC. The present study aimed to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Mammalian sterile 20-like kinase 1 (MST1) and MST2, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, and the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer (GC). Methods A case-control study was conducted using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Taqman method to detect the titer of anti-H. pylori antibody in normal human serum and genotype 9 SNPs of MST1 and MST2 genes among 808 samples. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between SNPs and H. pylori infection, as well as the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer in codominant, dominant, overdominant, recessive, and log-additive genetic models. Haplotypes were constructed using the Haploview 4.2 software. Results The CC genotype of MST2 SNP rs10955176 was associated with a reduced risk of H. pylori infection compared to the TT+CT genotype. None of other SNPs were associated with H. pylori infection. The TT genotype of MST2 SNP rs7827435 was associated with a reduced risk of non-cardia gastric cancer compared to the AA+AT genotype. None of the SNPs were associated with non-cardia gastric cancer. There were no associations between haplotypes and H. pylori infection or the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer. Conclusions The CC genotype of rs10955176 and the TT genotype of rs7827435 may serve as protective factors against H. pylori infection and non-cardia gastric cancer risk, respectively.