Association of estrogen receptor alpha gene polymorphisms with bone mineral density in Chinese women: a meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE
A large number studies have examined the association between estrogen receptor alpha (ESR-alpha) gene polymorphisms and bone mineral density (BMD) in the Chinese population. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess their pooled effects.


METHODS
We searched for all published articles indexed in MEDLINE, the Chinese Biomedical Database, and the Chinese Journal Full-text Database from January 1994 to April 2006. Any cross-sectional study that tested the association between ESR-alpha PvuII or XbaI genotypes and BMD at the femoral neck or spine in Chinese women was included in the review. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers using a standardized data extraction form. Sixteen eligible studies involving 4,297 Chinese women were identified.


RESULTS
The overall frequencies of X and P alleles were 28% and 40%, respectively. The PvuII polymorphism was statistically significantly associated with BMD at the femoral neck (P = 0.038 for PP = Pp = pp) but not at the lumbar spine in all women. The BMD difference for the contrasts of PP versus Pp/pp genotypes was -0.0105 (95%CI, -0.0202 approximately -0.0008) g/cm(2) (P = 0.036). The XbaI polymorphism was not associated with BMD at the femoral neck or lumbar spine.


CONCLUSIONS
The PvuII polymorphism had a very weak association with femoral neck BMD whereas XbaI polymorphism was unlikely to be a predictor of femoral neck or spine BMD in Chinese women.
Wang
C-L
CL
Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Tang
X-Y
XY
Chen
W-Q
WQ
Su
Y-X
YX
Zhang
C-X
CX
Chen
Y-M
YM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D015519:Bone Density / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000503:physiopathology; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha