title: Vitamin D receptor alleles and C-reactive protein in hemodialysis patients.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease due to atherosclerosis is the major determinant of morbidity and mortality in uremic patients. Inflammation is essential in the development of atherosclerosis and markers of inflammation, in particular C-reactive protein, predict the cardiovascular risk. Vitamin D exerts its effects through the Vitamin D Receptor, coded for by a gene showing several polymorphisms associated with a variety of diseases and differential responses to Vitamin D. We evaluated the association between four Vitamin D Receptor polymorphisms (i.e. those identified by the restriction enzymes BsmI, ApaI, TaqI and FokI) and serum level of C-reactive protein in 88 hemodialysis patients routinely treated with active Vitamin D (calcitriol). Absence or presence of the BsmI, ApaI, TaqI, and FokI restriction sites were denominated B and b, A and a, T and t, F and f respectively. Our results show that the b, a, T, alleles were more frequent in patients with elevated serum level of C-reactive protein compared with patients with normal C-reactive protein level. The differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the Vitamin D Receptor alleles b, a, T could be considered novel risk factors in the pathogenesis of inflammation-related, atherosclerosis-dependent cardiovascular disease risk in uremic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology and Forensic Medicine, University of Firenze, Italy. stefania.pacini@unifi.it
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pacini
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Punzi
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gulisano
authors.forename: Vieri
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boddi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aterini
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruggiero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics*; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D014511:Uremia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics*; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; D014807:Vitamin D; D002097:C-Reactive Protein