[Molecular epidemiology of osteoporosis].
Recently, molecular epidemiological studies have been performed in order to identify genetic factors associated with osteoporosis. Linkage analysis and association study are useful methods in molecular epidemiology. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis, an effective technique of linkage analysis has been performed for loci linked to bone mineral density (BMD). Association studies between bone mass and a number of polymorphisms in candidate genes were carried out, including vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene. However, one problem has been poor reproducibility of the results. Genome-wide linkage screens with a dense set of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are currently being conducted.
Akemi
Morita
M
Department of Public Health, Kinki University School of Medicine.