Other research has established that vitamin D has a significant effect in protecting the body against cancer because it regulates cell growth, cell differentiation and cell death and this new research backs evidence which shows that sun exposure, which helps in the production of vitamin D, can have anticancer effects.

Vitamin D works by binding to a receptor located within cells and the researchers say because there are genetic differences in this vitamin D receptor among individuals, there is the suspicion that different people have different levels of vitamin D activity within their bodies.

The result is that some individuals may naturally be able to achieve more vitamin D-related protection against cancer than others.

Research to support this theory have been until now both conflicting and scant and no previous review of the available data had been ever performed.

In order to address this issue, Dr. Simone Mocellin and Dr. Donato Nitti examined the existing research investigating the association between common variants in the vitamin D receptor and the risk of melanoma and their analysis has revealed a significant association between melanoma risk and the BsmI gene.

The researchers say their findings support the hypothesis that sun exposure might have an anti-melanoma effect through activation of the vitamin D system, but say further investigation on the subject is needed.

The researchers say more research is needed to validate this link, and they have called called for larger studies to test whether any vitamin D receptor variant is independently associated with melanoma risk.

The study "Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms and the Risk of Cutaneous Melanoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis", is published in the November 1, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

As part of the Dallas Heart Study, more than 3,500 individuals from Dallas County provided blood samples in 2000 for DNA isolation and other tests. Each participant also underwent multiple body scans with magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography to examine the heart and other organs. Along with discovering new genetic ties to differences in blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, the researchers have used this information to identify new drug targets for the prevention and treatment of heart disease.

Data-gathering for the new study on fatty liver disease took advantage of a unique aspect of the Dallas Heart Study. Researchers with the study were the first to analyze hepatic fat in a large population using a technique called proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy - the most sensitive and quantitative noninvasive imaging technique available to measure the amount of fat in the liver. With this technique, they screened more than 2,100 individuals across multiple ethnicities. They then correlated that data with DNA tests from the same people and found the link to the PNPLA3 gene.

The next step in the research is to investigate how the various forms of the PNPLA3 gene affect lipid metabolism.

Other researchers from the McDermott Center involved with the study were lead author Dr. Stefano Romeo, a postdoctoral research fellow; Dr. Alexander Pertsemlidis, assistant professor; Dr. Chao Xing, assistant professor of clinical sciences; and Julia Kozlitina, a graduate student participating in a joint program between Southern Methodist University and UT Southwestern. Researchers from Perlegen Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the UT Health Science Center at Houston also were involved.

The research was funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy.

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