ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Vitamin D analogues have been found to be effective in treating the skin lesions of psoriasis. The therapy is thought to work through the vitamin D receptors, resulting in alteration of the proliferation/differentiation balance of the cells. Vitamin D also has an effect on T helper cells, which have a major role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. There is controversy about the association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with psoriasis in different populations, and it is a factor that might influence the treatment of these patients. AIM: To study vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms using two restriction enzymes in a group of Egyptian patients with psoriasis. METHODS: In total, 50 patients with psoriasis were examined using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis to study ApaI and TaqI genotypes of the vitamin D receptor in a sample of Egyptian patients, and compared with 50 healthy control subjects. RESULTS: We did not find any significant difference in ApaI and TaqI vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms between patients and controls. CONCLUSIONS: There is ethnic variability in vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms. The lack of significant prevalence of the studied gene polymorphisms in our population suggests that their association with other functionally known gene polymorphism might have a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.
