title: Genetic analysis of vertebral trabecular bone density and cross-sectional area in older men.
abstract: We investigated 383 bone candidate genes for associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms and vertebral trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and cross-sectional area (CSA) in 2,018 Caucasian men aged ≥ 65 years. SNPs in TGFBR3, SOST, KL, CALCR, LEP, CSF1R, PTN, GNRH2, FGFR2, and MEPE were associated with vBMD and SNPs in CYP11B1, DVL2, DLX5, WNT4, and PAX7 were associated with CSA in independent study samples (p < 0.005).
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Vertebral bone mineral density and cross-sectional area are important determinants of vertebral bone strength. Little is known about the specific genetic variants that influence these phenotypes in humans.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the potential genetic variants associated with vertebral trabecular volumetric BMD and CSA measured by quantitative computed tomography. We initially tested for association between these phenotypes and 4608 tagging and potentially functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 383 candidate genes in 862 community-dwelling Caucasian men aged ≥ 65 years in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SNP associations were then validated by genotyping an additional 1,156 randomly sampled men from the same cohort. We identified 11 SNPs in 10 genes (TGFBR3, SOST, KL, CALCR, LEP, CSF1R, PTN, GNRH2, FGFR2, and MEPE) that were consistently associated with trabecular vBMD and five SNPs in five genes (CYP11B1, DVL2, DLX5, WNT4, and PAX7) that were consistently associated with CSA in both samples (p < 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  None of the SNPs associated with trabecular vBMD were associated with CSA. Our findings raise the possibility that at least some of the loci for vertebral trabecular BMD and bone size may be distinct.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. zmudaj@edc.pitt.edu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zmuda
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Yerges-Armstrong
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Moffett
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Klei
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kammerer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Roeder
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cauley
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuipers
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Ensrud
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Nestlerode
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barrett-Connor
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ferrell
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Orwoll
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods