title: Association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with prostate cancer risk in the Pakistani population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene has been a subject of extensive pharmacogenetic research recently. Association studies between different types of cancers including prostate cancer (PCa) and VDR gene polymorphism have also been conducted. The objective of this study was to find possible associations between PCa and VDR gene polymorphisms in the Pakistani population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 162 subjects, including prostate cancer patients and controls, were genotyped for Apa I, Taq I and Fok I polymorphisms in the VDR gene using allele specific PCR, PCR-RFLP and direct DNA sequencing. Allelic frequencies were tested for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and associations between the genetic markers and PCa were calculated using logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Apa I CC genotype was found to have strongest association with PCa risk, and "A" genotype was found to have protective effect. Fok I and Taq I did not have appreciable levels of association with PCa, although Taq I "TC" heterozygotes seemed to have some protective effect. Similarly the "C" allele of Fok I also seemed to have protective effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first report showing association between VDR gene polymorphisms and PCa in Pakistan. Our findings may be somewhat skewed because of small sample size and tendency of consanguineous marriages in Pakistani society; nevertheless, it shows the trend of association and protective effects of certain VDR gene polymorphisms against PCa.
authors.affiliation: Khyber Girls Medical Colleg, Peshawar, Pakistan E-mail : samisiraj.ibms@kmu.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Nageen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yousaf
authors.forename: Sibtain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Afzal
authors.forename: Tehreem
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayat
authors.forename: Jasmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Nafees
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Rashda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.forename: Khushnooda
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ramzan
authors.forename: Rasul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Jawad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siraj
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011379:Prognosis; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol; C579457:VDR protein, human