Dietary Intake is Associated with miR-31 and miR-375 Expression in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important epigenetic regulators in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), with miR-31 being considered an oncomir and miR-375, a tumor suppressor miR, which are up- and down-regulated in HNSCC, respectively. Nutrients are known to influence miRNA expression; however, this association is poorly explored in HNSCC. This work aimed to identify associations between dietary intake and the expression of miR-31 and miR-375 in patients newly diagnosed with HNSCC. The expression of miR-31 was positively associated with the consumption of iron (β = 16.65) and vitamin C (β = 0.37), and inversely associated with total sugar (β = −0.88), cholesterol (β= −0.23), vitamin B₉ (β= −0.37) and zinc (β = −5.66) intake. The expression of miR-375 was positively associated with the consumption of selenium (β = 1.52), vitamin C (β = 0.17) and vitamin D (β = 13.01), and inversely associated with the consumption of added sugar (β = −0.49), phosphorus (β= −0.27) and vitamin B₁₂ (β = −10.80). Our findings showed important associations between dietary intake and miR-31 and miR-375 expression in HNSCC, offering possible directions for further studies investigating how nutrients interfere with carcinogenesis.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01635581.2021.1990972 .

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the patients, the doctors Waner Neiva, Teylor Gerhardt, and Eldom Medeiros de Soares and Miss Paula Moura, Miss Maria Goreti Borges Campos, and Miss Mara Géssica for clinical support.

Authors Contribution

TJF, CCA, EFV, APMG, CC, and MAH initiated and designed the study. TJF, CCA, ACSL, LMM, and AFMG collected data, salivary rinse, and buccal cell under supervision of APMG. TJF, CCA, and ACSL performed laboratory analysis. TJF, CCA and ASGC performed the statistical analysis. TJF and CCA wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the critical revision and editing of the manuscript. MAH supervised the study. The corresponding authors attest that all listed authors meet authorship criteria and that no others meeting the criteria have been omitted.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Data Availability Statements

The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.