Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in multiple sclerosis patients in northwest Greece

Background: Polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been linked to both multiple sclerosis (MS) and osteoporosis. We examined the frequency of the Taq-1 and Bsm-1 polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene in 69 patients with MS and 81 age and sex-matched healthy individuals. Genotyping of Taq-I (rs731236) and Bsm-1 (rs1544410) was performed using TaqMan((R)) SNP Genotyping Assay. All patients and controls had determination of body mass index (BMI), bone mineral density (BMD) and smoking history. Results: The mean age of patients was 39 +/- 10.5 years compared to 38.7 +/- 10.7 years of the controls (p = 0.86), the BMI was 24.8 +/- 4.2 kg/m(2) compared to 25.7 +/- 4.8 kg/m(2) of the controls (p = 0.23), the BMD in the lumbar spine 0.981 +/- 0.15 compared to 1.025 +/- 013 of the controls (p = 0.06) and the total hip BMD was 0.875 +/- 0.14 compared to 0.969 +/- 0.12 of the controls (p < 0.001). There were no differences of the Taq-I (TT, CT, CC) and Bsm-1 genotypes (GG, GA, AA) and allelic frequencies between MS and control individuals. Multivariate analysis also failed to show any association of the Taq-1 and Bsm-1polymorphisms and MS or sex, BMI, BMD and smoking history. Conclusions: This study suggests that the Taq-1 and Bsm-1 polymorphisms of the VDR gene are not associated with MS risk, BMI or BMD in the Greek population studied.