Association between vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and vitiligo susceptibility: An updated meta-analysis

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms may play an important role in the vitiligo susceptibility. There have been many studies looking at the associations between VDR polymorphisms and vitiligo risk, but the conclusions are still up for debate.

This study aimed to determine whether polymorphisms in the VDR are associated to the susceptibility to vitiligo.

Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms in vitiligo patients and controls were identified using PubMed/Medline and Embase databases. The relationships between the VDR ApaI, TaqI, BsmI, and TaqI polymorphisms and vitiligo were investigated using meta-analyses of all participants and Asian, Arab, European, and Latin American groups.

This meta-analysis included 13 papers with 2034 patients and 2771 controls. In all individuals, there was no link between vitiligo and the VDR ApaI A allele (OR = 0.889, 95% CI = 0.713-1.109, p = 0.298). However, in Asians (OR = 0.721, 95% CI = 0.553-0.940, p = 0.016) but not in Europeans or Arabs, there was a link between the VDR ApaI A allele and vitiligo. Utilizing recessive, dominant, and homozygote contrast models, a link between vitiligo and the VDR ApaI polymorphism was discovered in Asians. Meta-analysis of the VDR BsmI polymorphism showed a significant association between vitiligo and the B allele (OR = 0.812, 95% CI = 0.686-0.961, p = 0.015). In contrast, no connection between vitiligo and VDR polymorphisms was identified for TaqI and FokI polymorphisms.

In the Asian population, ApaI and BsmI polymorphisms in VDR have been correlated to vitiligo susceptibility. However, TaqI and FokI polymorphisms in VDR are not associated with vitiligo susceptibility in European, Asian, Arab, and Latin American populations.