Common variants in IL17F gene contributed to the risk of hip osteoarthritis susceptibility in Han Chinese population

Aim: The prevalence of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) varies by ethnicity, suggesting genetic heterogeneity in populations and predilection sites. Given the unknown mechanism of IL17F gene in the etiology of OA, it is necessary to examine the potential shared susceptibility of IL17F gene between knee OA and hip OA (HOA). This study aimed to evaluate the association of the IL17F gene and susceptibility to HOA in a Han Chinese population. Methods: A total of 2650 study subjects, comprising 796 HOA patients and 1854 controls, were recruited into the present study. Seven tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected for genotyping. Single marker-based genetic association analyses were conducted at both the genotypic and allelic levels. c(2) statistics were calculated for statistical testing, and odds ratios were obtained to estimate the effects of genotypes and alleles for each SNP. Results: The SNP rs763780 was identified to be significantly associated with the risk of HOA at both genotypic (c(2) = 12.45, P = .002) and allelic levels (c(2) = 11.83, P = .0006). A linkage disequilibrium (LD) block comprised of 3 SNPs (rs12201582-rs12203736-rs722323) was also significantly associated with the risk of HOA. In addition, rs2294835 was identified to be associated with HOA severity (c(2) = 12.10, P = .02). Conclusion: Our results showed that IL17F gene contributed to the risk of HOA in a Han Chinese population, which would help to elucidate the pathogenesis of OA and facilitate the development of novel medicines and treatments for OA.