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Estrogen Receptor α Gene Polymorphisms and Peak Bone Density in Chinese Nuclear Families
Author(s) -
Qin YueJuan,
Shen Hui,
Huang QiRen,
Zhao LanJuan,
Zhou Qi,
Li MiaoXin,
He JinWei,
Mo XiaoYang,
Lu JingHui,
Recker Robert R,
Deng HongWen
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of bone and mineral research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.882
H-Index - 241
eISSN - 1523-4681
pISSN - 0884-0431
DOI - 10.1359/jbmr.2003.18.6.1028
Subject(s) - bone mineral , estrogen receptor alpha , linkage disequilibrium , bone density , osteoporosis , biology , genetics , genetic variation , femoral neck , genotype , polymorphism (computer science) , haplotype , medicine , endocrinology , estrogen receptor , nuclear family , gene , breast cancer , cancer , sociology , anthropology
PBD is an important determinant of osteoporotic fractures. Few studies were performed to search for genes underlying PBD variation in Chinese populations. We tested linkage and/or association of the estrogen receptor α gene polymorphism with PBD in 401 Chinese nuclear families. This study suggests the ER‐α gene may have some minor effects on PBM variation in the Chinese population. Low peak bone density (PBD) in adulthood is an important determinant of osteoporotic fractures in the elderly. PBD variation is mainly regulated by genetic factors. Extensive molecular genetics studies have been performed to search for genes underlying PBD variation, largely in whites. Few studies were performed in Chinese populations. In this study, we simultaneously test linkage and/or association of the estrogen receptor α ( ER ‐α) gene polymorphism with PBD in 401 Chinese nuclear families (both parents plus their female children) of 1260 subjects, with the 458 children generally between 20 and 40 years of age. All the subjects were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) at polymorphic Pvu II and Xba I sites inside the ER ‐α gene. Bone mineral density was measured at the lumbar spine (L1‐L4) and hip (femoral neck, trochanter, and intertrochanteric region). Raw bone mineral density values were adjusted by age, height, and weight as covariates. We detected marginally significant results for within‐family association (transmission disequilibrium; p = 0.054) between the spine bone mineral density variation and the ER ‐α Xba I genotypes. For the hip bone mineral density variation, significant ( p < 0.05) linkage results were generally found for the two intragenic markers. Analyses of the haplotypes defined by the two markers confer further evidence for linkage of the ER ‐α with the hip PBD variation. In conclusion, this study suggests that the ER ‐α gene may have minor effects on PBD variation in our Chinese population.