Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.
Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 7829 (2019 ) Cite this article Overvoltage Protection Circuit
![Vitamin D Receptor gene polymorphisms and plasma levels are associated with lumbar disc degeneration | Scientific Reports](http://cdn.globalso.com/tieda/201807075b40ce77467c0.jpg)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and VDR levels with lumbar disc degeneration (LDD). TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay was utilized to probe VDR gene polymorphisms including the FokI (rs2228570), ApaI (rs7975232) and TaqI (rs731236) in 454 patients with LDD and 485 controls. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used to detect plasma VDR levels. The patients with LDD were divided into three subgroups (subgroup 1: lumbar disc herniation; subgroup 2: lumbar spinal stenosis; subgroup 3: lumbar spondylolisthesis) to further probe the association of plasma VDR levels and VDR gene polymorphisms and LDD. Moreover, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was implemented to evaluate VDR expression in lumbar degenerated disc and normal disc. Allele and genotype frequency of TaqI (rs731236) were significantly different in patients with LDD and controls (all P < 0.05). For TaqI polymorphism, the frequencies of T allele were significantly higher in the LDD patients compared with controls (OR = 1.319; 95%CI 1.091 to 1.595; P = 0.004, adjusted (OR = 1.319; 95%CI 1.091 to 1.595; P = 0.004, adjusted OR = 1.383; 95%CI 1.135 to 1.684; P = 0.016). Furthermore, the allele distribution showed a higher frequency of the T allele in the patients with lumbar disc herniation in subgroup 1 (OR = 1.384; 95% CI 1.105 to 1.732; P = 0.004, adjusted OR = 1.319; 95%CI 1.091 to 1.595; P = 0.016). Plasma VDR levels and VDR expression were significantly lower in patients with LDD compared with controls (all P < 0.05). Moreover, the TT genotype of TaqI polymorphism was significantly associated with lower plasma VDR levels in patients with LDD (P = 0.002). TaqI (rs731236) polymorphism was associated with a predisposition to LDD. Plasma VDR and VDR expression levels may be the marker for the occurrence and development of LDD.
Low back pain is a very common musculoskeletal disorder in most developed and developing countries, which could result in an increasing global burden of disease1,2. Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) may be the top cause of low back pain3,4. LDD presents with a complex cascade of lumbar spine and its accessories degenerative changes. Although the exact etiology is not fully understood, it is widely accepted that LDD result from the combined effects of multiple genes and environmental factors5,6. Growing evidence suggested that LDD may be explained primarily by genetic factors5,7. Several genetic risk factors have been identified, including genes coding for Vitamin D Receptor (VDR), Collagen IX, and Collagen XI8. VDR gene is currently one of the most studied candidate genes associated with a predisposition to LDD. VDR is a member of the steroid and thyroid hormone receptor family of ligand-activated transcription factors that mediates the genomic effects of 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D in a wide variety of tissues9,10. The VDR has been proved to play a crucial role in regulating chondrocytes proliferation and differentiation, matrix production, and apoptosis11,12,13.
Several variants of the VDR gene including the FokI (rs2228570), ApaI (rs7975232) and TaqI (rs731236) have been found to be associated with LDD14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23. The ForkI polymorphism is located in the start codon of VDR gene. Several studies showed that the short 424 amino acid VDR protein variant encoded by the “F” allele is more active than the long 427 amino acid variant encoded by the “f” allele24,25,26. The ApaI, and TaqI polymorphisms are located near the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of the VDR gene27,28. It is known that 3′ UTR involves the process of gene expression by affecting gene localization, stability and translation of mRNAs29,30. However, the influence of VDR gene polymorphisms on VDR protein function remain not fully understood. Moreover, previous studies have produced conflict results with regards to the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and LDD14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24. It is important to further study the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and LDD in different ethnic populations15,17,31. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of VDR gene polymorphisms including the FokI (rs2228570), ApaI (rs7975232) and TaqI (rs731236) susceptibility to LDD in Chinese southern population. Furthermore, we used Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to evaluate VDR expression levels in plasma and lumbar disc tissue between LDD patients and controls.
The characteristics of the overall population of cases and controls are summarized in Table 1. There was no significant difference in age, gender, BMI, smoking habit between the case and control groups. The median age of control group was 54.2 years, ranging from 15.6 to 62.4 years. The median age of case group was 51.6 years, ranging from 16.8 to 84.4 years. A lower age was found in subgroup 1 compared with control group and the other two subgroups (all P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference between subgroup 2 and 3 (P > 0.05).
Of the subgroup 1, the disc samples from 34 patients were randomly assigned to perform the IHC analysis. The case group of IHC from subgroup 1 included 18 males and 16 females, and the median age was 53.1 years (ranging from 23.8 to 69.2 years). The control group of IHC included 13 males and 8 females, and the median age was 56.2 years (ranging from 24.8 to 76.3 years). The mean BMI was 23.79 ± 3.98 in case group and 21.43 ± 5.34 in control group. No significant difference in age and BMI were observed between the case and control groups.
The distributions of alleles and genotypes of VDR gene polymorphisms are presented in Table 2. All the three studied SNPs were in the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) in control group (P > 0.05). The genotype and allele frequencies of TaqI polymorphism were significantly different between the patients with LDD and controls (all P < 0.05). After Logistic regression analysis and Bonferroni correction, the frequencies of the T allele of TaqI polymorphism were significantly higher in the LDD patients compared with controls (OR = 1.319; 95%CI 1.091 to 1.595; P = 0.004, adjusted OR = 1.383; 95%CI 1.135 to 1.684; P = 0.016). Moreover, there was a significant association between the TaqI polymorphism and lumbar disc herniation (subgroup 1) (P < 0.05). The allele distribution showed a higher frequency of the T allele in the patients with lumbar disc herniation (OR = 1.384; 95% CI 1.105 to 1.732; P = 0.004, adjusted OR = 1.420; 95%CI 1.151 to 1.842; P = 0.016). No significant association of TaqI polymorphism with lumbar spinal stenosis (subgroup 2) and lumbar spondylolisthesis (subgroup 3) were observed (all P > 0.05). Neither the genotype nor the allele frequencies of FokI and ApaI polymorphisms were significantly different between case group including the subgroups and the control group (all P > 0.05). Furthermore, the result remained stable after adjustment for age (Table 2).
The plasma VDR levels of the case and control groups are shown in Fig. 1. The median plasma VDR content was 371.92 ng/L (range 50.98–2450.68 ng/L) in control group, 277.56 ng/L (range 27.61–2262.17 ng/L) in case group, 279.66 ng/L (range 27.61–2262.17 ng/L) in subgroup 1, 279.25 ng/L (range 35.68–1646.20 ng/L) in subgroup 2 and 274.29 ng/L (range 36.67–2225.92 ng/L) in subgroup 3. The plasma VDR levels in control group were significantly higher than that in case group (Fig. 1A) and all subgroups (Fig. 1B). Low plasma VDR levels were identified as associated with LDD (P < 0.001). There were no significant difference between all subgroups (all P > 0.05) (Fig. 1B). Regarding TaqI polymorphism, we found that plasma VDR levels in cases with TT genotype were significantly lower than those of tt + Tt (P = 0.002) (Fig. 1C).
Plasma VDR levels in control (n = 485) and case (n = 454) groups, including subgroup 1 (n = 266), subgroup 2 (n = 105) and subgroup 3 (n = 83). (A) Plasma VDR levels was significant higher in the control group than those in the case group (P < 0.01). (B) Plasma VDR levels was significant higher in the control group than those in the subgroup 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Data represent the median, the unit is ng/L. The yellow line indicates a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) and the black line indicates no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05). (C) Plasma VDR levels was significant higher in patients with rs731236 tt/Tt genotypes (n = 259) than those in the patients with TT genotype (n = 195). The line in the box represents the median. The interval of box is the 25th and 75th percentiles. The interval of whiskers is the 5th and 95th percentiles.
As shown in Fig. 2, VDR expressed in the nucleus and cytoplasm as well as outside the cell was detected in the nucleus pulposus of the normal disc by IHC. VDR expression was notably decreased in degenerated disc compared with those in normal disc. Significant statistical difference was found in integral optical density (IOD) analysis between the case and the control groups (4,296.58 ± 2,212.70 vs. 228,492.47 ± 52,995.05, P = 0.001).
VDR expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry assay. Expression of VDR was higher in the control group (A,B) than that in the case group (C,D). (Magnification, 400×) Black arrowheads show VDR positive cells.
In the current study, the results showed that the TaqI (rs731236) polymorphism in VDR gene was associated with a predisposition to LDD in all genetic model comparisons. After dividing the LDD patients into three subgroups, we found a significant association between TaqI polymorphism and lumbar disc herniation (subgroup 1). Furthermore, low plasma VDR levels and decreased VDR expressions were found in LDD patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the associations between VDR polymorphisms, plasma VDR levels and VDR expressions and LDD.
The association between TaqI polymorphism and LDD was first investigated in Finnish population32. A Japanese study confirmed that Tt genotype of TaqI polymorphism was more frequently associated with LDD, but no tt genotype was found in their subjects17. Another study reported that the t allele of TaqI polymorphism was associated with a high risk of LDD14. However, several studies suggested no association between TaqI polymorphism and LDD18,31,33,34,35. Our study confirmed that the TaqI polymorphism was associated with susceptibility to LDD and indicated that the T allele may increase the risk of LDD. It is partly consistent with prior studies in Asian and Italian cohorts15,23. There are several possible explanations for the presence of heterogeneity. First, different diagnostic techniques may lead to differences. For example, diagnosis criterion was based on CT scans in Yuan’s study18, whereas diagnosis criterion was based on MRI in Noponen-Hietala’s study34. Second, different studies used variable radiographic features to define the degenerative disc disease phenotypes may be affect genetic association36. Third, the number of participant and the ethnicity of the study population might change the results of genetic association.
TaqI polymorphism was found in the 3′ UTR of VDR gene27. The 3′ UTR has been found to have the function of controlling gene expression by affecting the localization, stability and translation of mRNAs29,30. Changes in mRNA may affect the function and expression of protein. The relationship between TaqI polymorphism and VDR protein has not been reported. In the current study, we found that plasma VDR levels were lower in LDD patients than those in the controls. Correspondingly, the results of IHC analysis showed that decreased VDR expression level were found in the degenerated disc. These results indicated that lower VDR expression levels represented a risk factor for LDD. Moreover, we further evaluated whether the genetic polymorphism can influence plasma levels of VDR. Compared with rs731236 tt/Tt genotypes, rs731236 TT genotype was associated with lower levels of VDR expression. Taken together, these findings indicate that rs731236 TT genotype were a genetic risk factor for development of LDD, probably by decreasing the expression of VDR. In addition, we found the wide distribution of ELISA data in the current study. This may be due to the fact that our study is hospital-based case-control study. All participants were recruited from the same hospital. The selection bias could not be ruled out. Secondly, a wide range of ages in case and control groups may also lead to the wide distribution of ELISA results. VDR is widely expressed in various tissues and cells of the human body. Low plasma VDR levels were found in some degenerative musculoskeletal condition, such as osteoporosis37,38. Previous studies of animal models showed that the lack of VDR signaling may lead to proinflammatory monocyte phenotypes associated with increased inflammatory response, cartilage damage, and bone erosion11. It seems to indicate that VDR plays an essential role in development of LDD. The real influence of VDR on the molecular mechanism of LDD requires further research.
There are several limitations in our study. First, small size of the sample may weaken the statistical power. Further large scale studies are required to validate our findings. Second, potential selection bias could be introduced into a hospital-based case-control study, which may inevitably affect the result to some degree.
The current study showed that VDR TaqI (rs731236) polymorphism was associated with a predisposition to LDD. Plasma VDR and VDR expression levels may be the marker for the occurrence and development of LDD.
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. All the experimental protocol and the methods were carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations, and complied with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was achieved from each participant.
This study participant including 454 patients with LDD and 485 controls were recruited from Spine Surgery and Physical Examination Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. The control group was composed of 252 females and 233 males, and the case group was composed of 259 females and 195 males. All patients were diagnosed with LDD based on clinical examinations and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Clinical examinations were performed by one attending spine surgeon. MRI images were obtained using a 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging Achieva scanner (Philips Medical Systems; Best, the Netherlands) with Nova Dual gradients. The following inclusion criteria were applied: (1) low back pain as the main symptom for at least 3 months; (2) MRI shows degenerative changes in lumbar spine; (3) no previous spinal surgery or other treatment that would deform the lumbar spine. Evaluation of the characteristics of the phenotypes based on MRI was performed by two independent radiologists. Any dispute between the two radiologists was resolved by a senior radiologist. According to MRI phenotypes36, the patients with LDD were further divided into three different mutually exclusive subgroups based on as follows: subgroup 1 included 266 patients affected by lumbar disc herniation; subgroup 2 included 105 patients affected by lumbar spinal stenosis and subgroup 3 included 83 patients affected by lumbar spondylolisthesis (Fig. 3). The exclusion criteria were applied: (1) a history of clinician-diagnosed low back pain at least six months’ duration that was present more than half the days of the month; (2) spine deformity; (3) the history of intraspinal tumor, trauma, inflammatory disease and rheumatoid arthritis; (4) previous spinal surgery; (5) MRI phenotype of one patient fit into more than one subgroup. To be eligible for control group, the subjects had no history of low back pain, and were screened by a 1.5-T lumbar spine MRI scan. Disc degeneration were identified in the MRI images and graded according to the modified Pfirrmann grading system39. The subjects with Pfirrmann’s Grade 1 were included in control group. Furthermore, we collected degenerative disc tissues (n = 34) and normal disc tissues (n = 21) from patients with lumbar disc herniation (subgroup 1) and patients with traumatic lumbar vertebral fracture, respectively. Patients with traumatic lumbar fracture had no history of low back pain before surgery and MRI evaluation showed no significant disc degeneration. According to Schneiderman’s classification40, Grade 1 was in 19 patients and Grade 2 was in 2 patients. These samples were used to evaluate VDR expression via immunohistochemistry (IHC).
Classification of patients into subgroups by MRI imaging. (A) Subgroup 1: patients with lumbar disc herniation; white arrow indicates L4/5 herniated disk bulges out toward the spinal canal. (B) Subgroup 2: patients with lumbar spinal stenosis; white arrows indicate L3-4 level spinal stenosis caused by degenerative thickening of the ligamentum flavum. (C) Subgroup 3: patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis; white arrow indicates subluxation of L5 vertebral body relative to S1 vertebral body.
Peripheral blood samples were taken from the study participant and stored at −80 °C for laboratory analysis. Genomic DNA from LDD patients and the controls were extracted from peripheral blood using Whole Blood DNA Isolation Kit (Promega, Madison, WI, USA). Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VDR gene were selected including FokI (rs2228570), ApaI (rs7975232) and TaqI (rs731236). The SNPs genotyping were analyzed by real-time PCR using Taq PathTM ProAmpTM Master Mixes (A30867, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay (4351376, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and performed in LightCycler®96 system (LIGHTCYCLER, Mannheim, Germany). Thermal cycling used the following conditions: pre-read at 60 °C for 30 seconds, initial denaturation at 95 °C for 5 minutes, denaturation at 95 °C for 15 seconds, annealing at 60 °C for 1 minute and finally post-read at 60 °C for 30 seconds. Two authors independently performed the analysis of the genotype results.
Plasma VDR levels were detected by using Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kit (MyBioSource, San Diego, CA, USA). According to the kit specification, the sample was diluted with the sample dilution provided by the kit to 1/5 of the original concentration. All steps in this experiment were performed strictly in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. We measured the absorbance (OD) of each well at 450 nm by the microplate reader (ELx800; BioTek Instruments, Inc., Winooski, VT, USA). According to the corresponding value of the standard, we drew the standard curve. Finally, we calculated the concentration of samples by the standard curve.
Disc tissues after the surgery to remove were fixed with 4% formaldehyde and embedded in paraffin for serial sectioning at 5 μm. After dewaxing and dehydration, the sections were immersed in 0.01 mol/L citrate buffer (pH = 6) for autoclaving antigen repair. The sections were incubated in 3% hydrogen peroxide for 10 min and subsequently with 5% BSA blocking solution for 10 min at room temperature. Primary antibody (ab137371, Abcam, Cambridge, UK) was diluted at 1:300 and incubated overnight at 4 °C, followed by secondary antibody (ab150077, Abcam, Cambridge, UK) at 37 °C for 15 min. DAB reagent was added to the section that was examined by microscope and incubated at room temperature for 5 min. Sections were counterstained with hematoxylin for 1 min, dehydrated through several baths of graded hydrochloric-alcohol and xylenes and then coverslipped using mounting solution. Finally, slices were observed using the Aperio System (Leica), in which 5 typical fields were randomly selected for analysis (400× magnifications). The integral optical density (IOD) of VDR-positive expression in each image was calculated by the professional image analysis software, Image-Pro Plus 6.0 (Media Cybernetics, Rockville, MD, USA).
All the data analysis were performed by using SPSS version 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to assess the normality of data distribution. The Mann-Whitney test was utilized to examine the differences of age, BMI and the plasma VDR levels between case group including subgroups and control group. The independent-sample t-test was used to examine the VDR expression levels between case and control groups in IHC. The differences in allelic frequencies and genotype distributions were compared using the chi-square (χ2) test. The P value was adjusted to the corresponding original 5% level by dividing by the number of comparisons to the control group. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was measured using a goodness-of-fit χ2 test. The ORs and 95% CIs were calculated to estimate VDR gene polymorphisms and LDD risk. Logistic regression was used to evaluate effects of confounders such as age by obtaining adjusted ORs and 95% CIs for genotypes and alleles. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.
Murray, C. J. et al. Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 306 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 188 countries, 1990–2013: quantifying the epidemiological transition. Lancet (London, England) 386, 2145–2191, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(15)61340-x (2015).
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet (London, England) 388, 1545–1602, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31678-6 (2016).
Borenstein, D. G. Epidemiology, etiology, diagnostic evaluation, and treatment of low back pain. Current opinion in rheumatology 13, 128–134 (2001).
Deyo, R. A. & Weinstein, J. N. Low back pain. The New England journal of medicine 344, 363–370, https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm200102013440508 (2001).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Martirosyan, N. L. et al. Genetic Alterations in Intervertebral Disc Disease. Frontiers in surgery 3, 59, https://doi.org/10.3389/fsurg.2016.00059 (2016).
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Battie, M. C. & Videman, T. Lumbar disc degeneration: epidemiology and genetics. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume 88(Suppl 2), 3–9, https://doi.org/10.2106/jbjs.e.01313 (2006).
Gologorsky, Y. & Chi, J. Genetic predisposition to lumbar disc degeneration. Neurosurgery 74, N10–11, https://doi.org/10.1227/neu.0000000000000275 (2014).
Kalichman, L. & Hunter, D. J. The genetics of intervertebral disc degeneration. Associated genes. Joint, bone, spine: revue du rhumatisme 75, 388–396, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbspin.2007.11.002 (2008).
Haussler, M. R., Jurutka, P. W., Mizwicki, M. & Norman, A. W. Vitamin D receptor (VDR)-mediated actions of 1alpha,25(OH)(2)vitamin D(3): genomic and non-genomic mechanisms. Best practice & research. Clinical endocrinology & metabolism 25, 543–559, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beem.2011.05.010 (2011).
Bouillon, R. et al. Vitamin D and human health: lessons from vitamin D receptor null mice. Endocrine reviews 29, 726–776, https://doi.org/10.1210/er.2008-0004 (2008).
Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Zwerina, K. et al. Vitamin D receptor regulates TNF-mediated arthritis. Annals of the rheumatic diseases 70, 1122–1129, https://doi.org/10.1136/ard.2010.142331 (2011).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Yao, T. et al. Vitamin D receptor activation protects against myocardial reperfusion injury through inhibition of apoptosis and modulation of autophagy. Antioxidants & redox signaling 22, 633–650, https://doi.org/10.1089/ars.2014.5887 (2015).
Liu, W. et al. Decreased immunosuppressive actions of 1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in patients with immune thrombocytopenia. Molecular immunology 78, 89–97, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molimm.2016.08.014 (2016).
Article CAS ADS PubMed Google Scholar
Cheung, K. M. et al. Association of the Taq I allele in vitamin D receptor with degenerative disc disease and disc bulge in a Chinese population. Spine 31, 1143–1148, https://doi.org/10.1097/01.brs.0000216530.41838.d3 (2006).
Colombini, A. et al. BsmI, ApaI and TaqI Polymorphisms in the Vitamin D Receptor Gene (VDR) and Association with Lumbar Spine Pathologies: An Italian Case-Control Study. PloS one 11, e0155004, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155004 (2016).
Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Colombini, A. et al. FokI polymorphism in the vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) and its association with lumbar spine pathologies in the Italian population: a case-control study. PloS one 9, e97027, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097027 (2014).
Article CAS ADS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Kawaguchi, Y. et al. The association of lumbar disc disease with vitamin-D receptor gene polymorphism. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume 84-a, 2022–2028 (2002).
Yuan, H. Y. et al. Matrix metalloproteinase-3 and vitamin d receptor genetic polymorphisms, and their interactions with occupational exposure in lumbar disc degeneration. Journal of occupational health 52, 23–30 (2010).
Toktas, Z. O. et al. Association of collagen I, IX and vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms with radiological severity of intervertebral disc degeneration in Southern European Ancestor. European spine journal: official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society 24, 2432–2441, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4206-5 (2015).
Eser, B. et al. Association of the polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor and aggrecan genes with degenerative disc disease. Genetic testing and molecular biomarkers 14, 313–317, https://doi.org/10.1089/gtmb.2009.0202 (2010).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Sansoni, V. et al. Interplay between low plasma RANKL and VDR-FokI polymorphism in lumbar disc herniation independently from age, body mass, and environmental factors: a case-control study in the Italian population. European spine journal: official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society 25, 192–199, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4176-7 (2016).
Vieira, L. A. et al. Analysis of FokI polymorphism of vitamin D receptor gene in intervertebral disc degeneration. Genetic testing and molecular biomarkers 18, 625–629, https://doi.org/10.1089/gtmb.2014.0030 (2014).
Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Weijian, C. Association of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism in Han people with lumbar degenerative disc disease. African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 6, https://doi.org/10.5897/ajpp12.114 (2012).
Arai, H. et al. A vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism in the translation initiation codon: effect on protein activity and relation to bone mineral density in Japanese women. Journal of bone and mineral research: the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 12, 915–921, https://doi.org/10.1359/jbmr.1997.12.6.915 (1997).
Colin, E. M. et al. Consequences of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms for growth inhibition of cultured human peripheral blood mononuclear cells by 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Clinical endocrinology 52, 211–216 (2000).
Jurutka, P. W. et al. The polymorphic N terminus in human vitamin D receptor isoforms influences transcriptional activity by modulating interaction with transcription factor IIB. Molecular endocrinology (Baltimore. Md.) 14, 401–420, https://doi.org/10.1210/mend.14.3.0435 (2000).
Uitterlinden, A. G., Fang, Y., Van Meurs, J. B., Pols, H. A. & Van Leeuwen, J. P. Genetics and biology of vitamin D receptor polymorphisms. Gene 338, 143–156, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2004.05.014 (2004).
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Zmuda, J. M., Cauley, J. A. & Ferrell, R. E. Molecular epidemiology of vitamin D receptor gene variants. Epidemiologic reviews 22, 203–217 (2000).
Decker, C. J. & Parker, R. Diversity of cytoplasmic functions for the 3′ untranslated region of eukaryotic transcripts. Current opinion in cell biology 7, 386–392 (1995).
Jackson, R. J. Cytoplasmic regulation of mRNA function: the importance of the 3′ untranslated region. Cell 74, 9–14 (1993).
Cervin Serrano, S. et al. Genetic polymorphisms of interleukin-1 alpha and the vitamin d receptor in mexican mestizo patients with intervertebral disc degeneration. International journal of genomics 2014, 302568, https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/302568 (2014).
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Videman, T. et al. Intragenic polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor gene associated with intervertebral disc degeneration. Spine 23, 2477–2485 (1998).
Eskola, P. J. et al. Genetic risk factors of disc degeneration among 12-14-year-old Danish children: a population study. International journal of molecular epidemiology and genetics 1, 158–165 (2010).
CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Noponen-Hietala, N. et al. Sequence variations in the collagen IX and XI genes are associated with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. Annals of the rheumatic diseases 62, 1208–1214 (2003).
Oishi, Y. et al. Lack of association between lumbar disc degeneration and osteophyte formation in elderly japanese women with back pain. Bone 32, 405–411 (2003).
Rajasekaran, S. et al. Phenotype variations affect genetic association studies of degenerative disc disease: conclusions of analysis of genetic association of 58 single nucleotide polymorphisms with highly specific phenotypes for disc degeneration in 332 subjects. The spine journal: official journal of the North American Spine Society 13, 1309–1320, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spinee.2013.05.019 (2013).
D’Amelio, P. et al. Platelet vitamin D receptor is reduced in osteoporotic patients. Panminerva medica 54, 225–231 (2012).
Cui, C. et al. Induction of the Vitamin D Receptor Attenuates Autophagy Dysfunction-Mediated Cell Death Following Traumatic Brain Injury. Cellular physiology and biochemistry: international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology 42, 1888–1896, https://doi.org/10.1159/000479571 (2017).
Griffith, J. F. et al. Modified Pfirrmann grading system for lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration. Spine 32, E708–712, https://doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0b013e31815a59a0 (2007).
Schneiderman, G. et al. Magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of disc degeneration: correlation with discography. Spine 12, 276–281 (1987).
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (81860406/81460353/81560371), Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2015GXNSFBA139167/2018GXNSFAA281127), and Medical Excellence Award Funded by the Creative Research Development Grant from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Division of Spine Surgery, Nanning, 530021, China
Qinghua Yang, Yang Liu, Yewen Guan, Xinli Zhan, Zengming Xiao & Hua Jiang
The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nanning, 530021, China
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
H.J. and Q.Y. conceived the idea and designed the experiments; Q.Y. and Y.L. carried out experiments; Y.G., X.Z. and Q.W. analyzed experimental results; Q.Y. and H.J. wrote the main manuscript text; Y.G., Z.X. and Q.W. prepared Figs 1–3 and Tables 1–2. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Yang, Q., Liu, Y., Guan, Y. et al. Vitamin D Receptor gene polymorphisms and plasma levels are associated with lumbar disc degeneration. Sci Rep 9, 7829 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44373-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44373-2
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research (2023)
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research (2020)
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
Scientific Reports (Sci Rep) ISSN 2045-2322 (online)
![Vitamin D Receptor gene polymorphisms and plasma levels are associated with lumbar disc degeneration | Scientific Reports](http://cdn.globalso.com/tieda/201807075b4097839152f.jpg)
Explosion Proof Plug In Mov Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.