Exploring ALDH2 expression and immune infiltration in HNSC and its correlation of prognosis with gender or alcohol intake

Abstract

The aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 point mutation (ALDH2*2) is a common frequent human gene variant, especially in East Asians. However, the expression and mechanism of action of ALDH2 in HNSC remain unknown. The present study explored the clinical significance and immune characteristics of ALDH2 in HNSC. The receiver operating characteristic curve was analysed to assess the diagnostic value of ALDH2 expression. ALDH2 expression in normal tissues and HNSC tissues was evaluated by IHC, and we also analysed ALDH2 gene expression in 4 HNSC cell lines. ALDH2 expression was significantly reduced in HNSC tissues compared to normal tissues (p < 0.05). HNSC patients with high ALDH2 expression had a better prognosis compared to patients with low ALDH2 expression (p < 0.05). GSEA indicated that these gene sets were correlated with signalling pathways, including the JAK-STAT signalling pathway. Unexpectedly, we found a significant prognostic effect of ALDH2 for HNSC based on alcohol consumption and the male sex. The correlation between ALDH2 expression and immune inhibitors showed an effect for ALDH2 in modifying tumour immunology in HNSC, and there may be a possible mechanism by which ALDH2 regulates the functions of T cells in HNSC. In addition, we developed a prognostic nomogram for HNSC patients, which suggested that low ALDH2 expression indicated poor prognosis in HNSC patients who were males and alcoholics.

Association Between ALDH2 Polymorphisms and the Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Hypertensive Patients

“… 49 And the ALDH2 gene is associated with the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. 50 According to the above studies, the results on the relationship between the risk of DM and HTN and the ALDH2 rs671 polymorphisms used as a predictor for the risk of T2DM still need more evidence with different sample sizes, regions, and ethnicities. Moreover, little is known about the link between ALDH2 gene polymorphisms and the risk of DM in HTN patients, and identification of susceptibility ALDH2 genes and other risk factors would be helpful for the prevention and treatment of DM in HTN patients.…”

Identification and validation of a prognostic model based on ferroptosis-associated genes in head and neck squamous cancer

“…Identification of key biomarkers to assess tumor prognosis raises implications for early tumor diagnosis, treatment regimen selection, and cancer prevention ( Economopoulou et al, 2019 ). The prognosis of patients with head and neck cancer is related to many factors, such as age, smoking, gender, TNM stage, stage, drug sensitivity, immune cell infiltration, etc ( Zhang et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ; Yao et al, 2022 ). In this work, we got 47 ferroptosis-related genes to obtain a correlation with the prognosis of head and neck cancer patients from the FerrDb database.…”

ALDH2 gene rs671 G > a polymorphism and the risk of colorectal cancer: A hospital‐based study

“… 63 Moreover, ALDH2 is linked to autophagy regulation in some diseases, and it was speculated that autophagy is one of the mechanisms that ALDH2 uses to regulate tumor occurrence and development. 64 , 65 In addition, ALDH2 indirectly regulates the immune system due to its role in aldehydes metabolism and acetaldehyde adducts, 66 , 67 and it may also be one of the mechanisms by which ALDH2 is involved in tumor development.…”