Korean J Med.  2002 Feb;62(2):209-217.

Lack of association between rheumatoid arthritis and vitamin D receptor polymorphisms in Koreans

• Yoon WC
• Kim CG
• Song YH
• Kim SG
• Joen CH
• Kim OD
• Choe JY

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the distribution of vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients group is different from that of the control group and whether there is a relationship between VDR genotype and radiographic severity or bone mineral density (BMD) of RA patients.
METHODS
The VDR genotype was determined by polymerase chain reaction and digestion with three restriction enzymes Taq I, Apa I and Bsm I in 78 healthy women and 97 female RA patients. Hand X-rays were scored by Larsen's method and bone mineral density was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in RA patients.
RESULTS
VDR genotypic distributions in Koreans were much different from Caucasians in each control and RA patient groups. Especially, "tt" allele and "BB" allele were very rare, prominently differentiating from Caucasians. But within Koreans, no significant difference of VDR genotypic frequency was observed between control group and RA patients group. And there was no significant relationship of VDR genotype with radiographic scores, nor with BMD scores in RA patients.
CONCLUSION
The distribution of VDR polymorphisms in Korean RA patients was not different from controls. The VDR polymorphisms correlate neither with the radiographic severity of RA, nor with BMD scores in Korean RA patients.

Keyword

Vitamin D; Polymorphism (Genetics); Arthritis; Rheumatoid

MeSH Terms

Absorptiometry, Photon
Alleles
Arthritis
Arthritis, Rheumatoid*
Bone Density
Digestion
Female
Genotype
Hand
Humans
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Polymorphism, Genetic
Receptors, Calcitriol*
Vitamin D*
Vitamins*
Receptors, Calcitriol
Vitamin D
Vitamins