GDF5 single-nucleotide polymorphism rs143383 is associated with lumbar disc degeneration in Northern European women.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a serious social and medical problem which has been shown to be highly heritable. It has similarities with peripheral joint osteoarthritis (OA) in terms of both epidemiology and pathologic processes. A few known genetic variants have been identified using a candidate gene approach, but many more are thought to exist. GDF5 is a gene whose variants have been shown to play a role in skeletal height as well as predisposing to peripheral joint OA. In vitro, the gene product growth differentiation factor 5 has been shown to promote growth and repair of animal disc. This study was undertaken to investigate whether the GDF5 gene plays a role in LDD.

Methods

We investigated whether the 5' upstream single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) varian

SUBMITTER: Williams FM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3498734 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature