Association of collagen I, IX and vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with radiological severity of intervertebral disc degeneration in Southern European Ancestor.
OBJECTIVE
Several genomic loci have been previously found to be associated with intervertebral disc degeneration, so far. Data are mostly derived from northern European countries whereas data derived from Southern European Ancestor are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the association between radiological disease severity of lumbar disc degeneration and certain genetic loci in a sample of participants from Southern Europe.


METHODS
Seventy-five patients with mild to severe lumbar disc degeneration and 25 healthy controls were enrolled into the study. In each subject, each lumbar intervertebral disc was separately examined to obtain a total radiological score for disease severity. In addition, single-nucleotide polymorphisms of predefined genetic samples were analyzed in all participants: COL1A1 Sp1, COL9a2 Trp2, COL9a3 Trp3, and VDR TaqI.


RESULTS
Degeneration scores were significantly worse in cases with COL1A1 Sp1, COL9a3 Trp3, and VDR TaqI mutations; however, COL9a2 Trp2 mutation was not associated with a difference in the severity of disc degeneration. In addition, subjects with mutation in more than one gene sample (n = 20) had significantly worse degeneration scores than the remaining study participants (n = 80) (17.70 ± 2.72 vs. 21.81 ± 1.81, p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Single-nucleotide polymorphisms occurring in COL1A1, COL9a3 and VDR genes seem to be associated with the development of lumbar disc degeneration in this cohort, possibly with even more pronounced association when multiple mutations are present in the same individual. By further prospective twin studies in associated genes and analyses of their relationship with environmental factors in an internationally sampled large cohort will make a more clear-minded conclusion about their association with disc degeneration, which would yield better appreciation and clinical planning of some predisposed people for these pathologies.
Department of Neurosurgery, Bahçeşehir University Medical Faculty, Çırağan Caddesi Osmanpaşa Mektebi Sokak No: 4-6, 34353, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey. drzafertoktas@gmail.com.
Zafer Orkun
ZO
Toktaş
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Murat Şakir
MŞ
Ekşi
Department of Neurosurgery, Bahçeşehir University Medical Faculty, Çırağan Caddesi Osmanpaşa Mektebi Sokak No: 4-6, 34353, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey.
Baran
B
Yılmaz
Department of Radiology, Bahçeşehir University Medical Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey.
Mustafa Kemal
MK
Demir
Department of Neurosurgery, Acıbadem University Medical Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey.
Serdar
S
Özgen
Department of Neurosurgery, Bahçeşehir University Medical Faculty, Çırağan Caddesi Osmanpaşa Mektebi Sokak No: 4-6, 34353, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey.
Türker
T
Kılıç
Department of Neurosurgery, Bahçeşehir University Medical Faculty, Çırağan Caddesi Osmanpaşa Mektebi Sokak No: 4-6, 34353, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey.
Deniz
D
Konya
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000235:genetics*; D024081:Collagen Type IX / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006801:Humans; D055959:Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011859:Radiography; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics*
D024042:Collagen Type I; D024081:Collagen Type IX; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol
Collagen 1A1 (COL1A1); Collagen 9 alpha-2 (COL9a2); Collagen 9 alpha-3 (COL9a3); Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP); Vitamin D receptor (VDR)