Investigation of The Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) Gene Polymorphisms in Lumbar Disc Herniation in Turkish Patients

Objective: Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common degenerative disease. It is still not clear if there is a possible association between the vitamin D pathway and the etiopathogenesis of the disease. In this study, we investigated certain VDR polymorphisms which are known to affect vitamin D levels in patients with lumbar disc herniation. Material and Method: TaqI (rs731236) and Fok-I (rs2228570) poly-morphisms were studied by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 72 LDH patients and 81 healthy controls. Results: After evaluation of our results, the frequency of LDH patients who have VDR Taq-I Tt genotype was significantly higher than the controls and carriers of Taq-I Tt genotype and t allele who had an increased risk for lumbar disc hernia cases, respectively p=0.002, OR:1.688, 95%CI:1.206-2.360; p=0.006, OR:1.420, 95%CI:1.104-1.825. VDR Fok-I genotypes did not differ significantly between lumbar disc herniation and control cases. (p=0.079). But, Ff genotype and f allele carriers had a higher risk for lumbar disk hernia than those with other genotypes, respectively p=0.025, OR:1.594, 95%CI:1.052-2.414; p=0.037, OR:1.514, 95%CI:1.019-2.250. Conclusion: Our study contributes to the identification of genetic risk factors for specific subgroups of patients with LDH, and em-phasizes the contribution of these biomarkers to the detailed clinical evaluation of patients with genetic biomarkers. © 2019, Istanbul University Press. All rights reserved.