title: Association Study between Idiopathic Scoliosis and Polymorphic Variants of VDR, IGF-1, and AMPD1 Genes.
abstract: Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) is a complex genetic disorder of the musculoskeletal system, characterized by three-dimensional rotation of the spine with unknown etiology. For the aims of the current study we selected 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms with a low incidence of the polymorphic allele in Bulgarian population, AMPD1 (rs17602729), VDR (rs2228670), and IGF-1 (rs5742612), trying to investigate the association between these genetic polymorphisms and susceptibility to and progression of IS. The polymorphic regions of the genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were cleaved with the appropriate restriction enzymes. The statistical analysis was performed by Pearson's chi-squared test. A value of p < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. In conclusion, this case-control study revealed no statistically significant association between the VDR, IGF-1, and AMPD1 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to IS or curve severity in Bulgarian patients. Replication case-control studies will be needed to examine the association between these candidate-genes and IS in different populations. The identification of molecular markers for IS could be useful for early detection and prognosis of the risk for a rapid progression of the curve. That would permit early stage treatment of the patient with the least invasive procedures.
authors.affiliation: National Genetic Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University-Sofia, 2 Zdrave Street, 14th Floor, 1431 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Svetla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikolova
authors.affiliation: Tokuda Hospital Sofia, Orthopedic and Traumatology Clinic, 51B Nikola Vaptsarov Boulevard, 1407 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Vasil
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yablanski
authors.affiliation: Tokuda Hospital Sofia, Orthopedic and Traumatology Clinic, 51B Nikola Vaptsarov Boulevard, 1407 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Evgeni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vlaev
authors.affiliation: University Orthopedic Hospital "Prof. Boycho Boychev", Medical University-Sofia, 56 Nikola Petkov Boulevard, 1614 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Luben
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stokov
authors.affiliation: National Genetic Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University-Sofia, 2 Zdrave Street, 14th Floor, 1431 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Alexey Slavkov
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Savov
authors.affiliation: Molecular Medicine Center, Medical University-Sofia, 2 Zdrave Street, 14th Floor, 1431 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Ivo Marinov
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Kremensky