mGWAS identification of six novel single nucleotide polymorphism loci with strong correlation to gastric cancer

BACKGROUND: Metabolite genome-wide association studies (mGWAS) are key for understanding the genetic regulation of metabolites in complex diseases including cancers. Although mGWAS has revealed hundreds of metabolomics quantitative trait loci (mQTLs) in the general population, data relating to gastric cancer (GC) are still incomplete. METHODS: We identified mQTLs associated with GC by analyzing genome-wide and metabolome-wide datasets generated from 233 GC patients and 233 healthy controls. RESULTS: Twenty-two metabolites were statistically different between GC cases and healthy controls, and all of them were associated with the risk of gastric cancer. mGWAS analyses further revealed that 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were significantly associated with 3 metabolites. Of these 9 SNPs, 6 loci were never reported in the previous mGWAS studies. Surprisingly, 4 of 9 SNPs were significantly enriched in genes involved in the T cell receptor signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our study unveiled several novel GC metabolite and genetic biomarkers, which may be implicated in the prevention and diagnosis of gastric cancer.