ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To analyze the relationship between nephrolithiasis and vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene BsmI (rs1544410), ApaI (rs7975232), TaqI (rs731236), Tru9I (rs757343) and FokI (rs2228570) polymorphisms in a study group from the Turkish population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-eight patients with calcium oxalate kidney stones and 70 controls were enrolled in this study. Five polymorphisms of the VDR gene were studied using the Polymerase Chain Reaction Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. RESULTS: For all polymorphisms, genotype frequencies were in line with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the patients and controls. For the BsmI polymorphism, allele frequency distribution was found to differ significantly between the patients and the controls (P < .05). The "B" allele was found to increase the risk of nephrolithiasis by approximately 1.5-fold (odds ratio = 1.55, 95% confidence interval: 1.00-2.40; P = .048). However, we did not find any statistically significant differences in the allele and genotype frequencies for the ApaI, TaqI, Tru9I and FokI polymorphisms. Proportionally, the "BAt" and "baT" haplotypes were more common than other haplotypes in the cases and controls, respectively. For the haplotypes of the BsmI and TaqI polymorphisms, the "bT" haplotype frequency was found to be common in both the patients and the controls. However, we did not find statistically significant differences between the cases and the controls for either the BsmI / ApaI / TaqI or the BsmI/TaqI haplotypes. Moreover, no relationship was identified between family history and development of stone disease. CONCLUSION: The "B" allele of the BsmI polymorphism of the VDR gene may increase stone development risk. Further investigations are needed to improve our knowledge regarding the genetic factors affecting urinary stone development.
Subject(s)
Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific/genetics , Leucine/analogs & derivatives , Nephrolithiasis/genetics , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , Receptors, Calcitriol/genetics , Adult , Alleles , DNA/genetics , Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific/metabolism , Female , Gene Frequency , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Genotype , Humans , Leucine/genetics , Leucine/metabolism , Male , Middle Aged , Nephrolithiasis/epidemiology , Nephrolithiasis/metabolism , Odds Ratio , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Receptors, Calcitriol/metabolism , Turkey/epidemiologyABSTRACT
An expanded polyglutamine stretch in the huntingtin protein has been identified as the pathogenetic cause of Huntington's disease (HD). Although the length of the expanded polyglutamine repeat is inversely correlated with the age-at-onset, additional genetic factors are thought to modify the variance in the disease onset. As linkage analysis suggested a modifier locus on chromosome 4p, we investigated the functional relevance of S18Y polymorphism of the ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 in 946 Caucasian HD patients. In this group, the allelic variation on locus S18Y is responsible for 1.1% of the variance in the HD age-at-onset, and the rare Y allele is associated with younger-aged cases.
