Polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor and risk of gout in Chinese Han male population.

Previous studies have showed that patients with gout showed lower serum 25(OH)D levels. As the specific receptor of vitamin D, VDR plays an important role in regulating immune system by combining with vitamin D. In this study, we investigated whether the functional VDR polymorphisms were associated with susceptibility to gout in Chinese Han male population. A total of 504 patients with gout and 523 gout-free controls were recruited from the Affiliated Hospital of the Medical College, Qingdao University. Genotyping of VDR rs11568820, rs2228570 and rs1544410 was performed by TaqMan allele discrimination assays. An association analysis was carried out using the χ(2) test. A genotype-phenotype analysis was also conducted. Our results showed that polymorphisms of rs11568820 and rs1544410 in VDR were associated with gout in Chinese Han male population. The A allele of both rs11568820 and rs1544410 was associated with the risk of gout [P = 0.012 OR 1.251, 95% CI (1.051-1.490); P = 0.006, OR 1.574, 95% CI (1.139-2.175)]. However, there was no statistic significance between rs2228570 and gout (P = 0.186). Our study suggested that the polymorphisms of VDR may be relevant host susceptibility factors for the development of gout in Chinese Han male population. However, further study should be done in a larger size sample and other ethic to test and verify our result.