Abstract:

BACKGROUND: As a primary clinical predictor of fracture risk, bone mineral density (BMD) is partly genetically determined. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is one important candidate gene in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between T245G polymorphisms in the OPG gene and BMD.
METHODS: A total of 281 elderly men and postmenopausal women, 182 males and 99 females, who received routine examinations at Peking University People’s Hospital between September 2008 and April 2010 were included in this study. T245G polymorphisms in the OPG gene was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism together with DNA sequencing. The BMD of the lumbar spine, Ward’s triangle, and forearrm was determined by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Clinical variables and biochemical measurements were collected simultaneously. The association between T245G polymorphisms and each detection index was analyzed using analysis of variance.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The distribution of T245G genotype (alleles T, G) had no difference in elderly men or postmenopausal women (P > 0.05). The GG genotype and TG genotype had higher lumbar spine BMD and TT genotype had lower lumbar spine BMD (P < 0.05). There was no difference in BMD of the Ward’s triangle or forearm among different genotypes (P > 0.05). Association between T245G polymorphism and BMD was not found in postmenopausal women. These findings indicate that OPG gene is related to lumbar spine BMD in elderly men.