Related Experiment Videos
Vitamin D receptor gene start codon polymorphism (FokI) and bone mineral density in healthy male subjects
R M Kanan1, S S Varanasi, R M Francis
1Departments of Clinical Biochemistry & Metabolic Medicine, The Medical School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Objective:
The genetic factors determining peak bone mineral density (BMD) in men are not well characterized. Recent studies have investigated the relationship between the start codon polymorphism (SCP) of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and BMD in different populations. We have now examined the relationship between SCP of the VDR gene and BMD in a group of healthy Caucasian men from the north-east of England.
Subjects:
Ninety-six healthy men (median age 50, range 40.0-77.0 years).
Measurements:
Analysis of the FokI genotypes of SCP of the VDR and measurements of BMD at the femoral neck and lumbar spine were performed.
Results:
FF, Ff and ff VDR FokI genotypes were found to have the highest, intermediate and the lowest lumbar spine BMD, respectively (Mean +/- SD, for FF 1.07 +/- 0.14, Ff 1.05 +/- 0.16 and ff 0.95 +/- 0.10 g/cm2). There was a significant difference in spine BMD between FF and ff genotypes (P < 0.05, analysis of variance [ANOVA]), but no such difference was apparent between Ff and ff (P > 0.05, ANOVA). Interestingly, there was no association between FokI polymorphism and femoral neck BMD (Mean +/- SD, for FF 0.85 +/- 0.12, Ff 0.87 +/- 0.15 and ff 0.83 +/- 0.15 g/cm2). The distribution of FokI VDR genotypes approached Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and was similar to that reported for women from different ethnic groups, as the prevalence of FF and ff genotypes was 44% and 16%, respectively.
Conclusion:
The study shows that in this population of healthy men there is a weak association between lumbar spine bone mineral density and FokI restriction fragment length polymorphism at the translation initiation site of the vitamin D receptor gene.