Association of Dectin-2 gene polymorphisms with postoperative secondary invasive fungal infection in patients undergoing radical mastectomy

OBJECTIVE To explore the association of dendritic cell-associated C-type lectin-2 (Dectin-2) gene polymorphisms with postoperative secondary invasive fungal infection (IFI) in patients undergoing radical mastectomy. METHODS Totally 124 breast cancer patients who underwent radical mastectomy in Shengjing Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University from Jan 2019 to Jun 2021 were enrolled in the study and were divided into the IFI group with 39 cases and the non-IFI group with 85 cases according to the status of postoperative IFI. The medical records of the patients were investigated, the clinical data were collected, the risk factors for the postoperative IFI were analyzed. The levels of serum Dectin-2, interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and interferon-γ(IFN-γ) were detected for the two groups of patients by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the single nucleotide polymorphisms at rs11045418 locus of Dectin-2 gene were detected by polymerase-chain-reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay. RESULTS The proportions of patients with diabetes mellitus, length of hospital stay no less than 10 days and the frequency of adjuvant chemotherapy were higher in the IFI group than in the non-IFI group (P＜0.05); there were no significant differences in the age, body mass index (BMI) and distribution frequency of hypertension between the two groups. Logistic regression model analysis showed that complication with diabetes mellitus and length of hospital stay were the risk factors for the postoperative secondary IFI in the breast cancer patients undergoing radical mastectomy (P＜0.05). The levels of Dectin-2, IL-1β and IFN-γ of the IFI group were significantly higher than those of the non-IFI group (P＜0.05); the CC genotype at rs11045418 locus was a protective factor for the postoperative secondary IFI (P＜0.05); there were no significant differences in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles at rs11045418 locus between the two groups. CONCLUSION The CC genotype at rs11045418 locus of Dectin-2 gene may reduce the risk of postoperative secondary IFI in the breast cancer patients undergoing radical mastectomy, and the IFI patients show abnormal rise of serum Dectin-2.