title: Association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism and risk of prostate cancer in India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vitamin D plays an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of normal and malignant cells. In several studies polymorphism in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene has been reported to be associated with prostate cancer (CaP). The rationale of this study was to determine the association between the VDR (Fok-I) polymorphism and the risk of developing CaP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Polymorphism was detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism method in 128 CaP patients (age range 43-89 years) and 147 age-matched controls (age range 42-91 years). PCR products were designated as F or f allele according to the absence or presence of a restriction site.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequencies of the FF, Ff and ff genotypes were 60.9, 35.2 and 3.9% in CaP patients and 42.2, 46.9 and 10.9% in healthy controls, respectively. The genotype frequency distribution between CaP and the control group was statistically significant (p = 0.003). However, the distribution of genotypes was not significantly associated with the Gleason score. The present study thus demonstrates that the FF genotype (or F allele) of the VDR gene plays an important role in determining the risk of CaP and could be postulated as a good candidate genetic marker.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Dhruva Kumar
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Hemant Kumar
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Bid
authors.forename: Daya Shankar Lal
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mandhani
authors.forename: Rama Devi
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Mittal
mesh_terms: D005787:Gene Frequency; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics*; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol