Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The BMJ logoLink to The BMJ
. 1995 May 27;310(6991):1357–1360. doi: 10.1136/bmj.310.6991.1357

Influence of vitamin D receptor genotype on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a twin study in Britain.

T D Spector 1, R W Keen 1, N K Arden 1, N A Morrison 1, P J Major 1, T V Nguyen 1, P J Kelly 1, J R Baker 1, P N Sambrook 1, J S Lanchbury 1, et al.
PMCID: PMC2549743  PMID: 7787536

Abstract

OBJECTIVES--To investigate the possible association between vitamin D receptor genotype and bone mineral density in a large group of postmenopausal twins. DESIGN--Cross sectional twin study. SETTING--Twin population based in Britain. SUBJECTS--95 dizygotic (non-identical) pairs of twins and 87 monozygotic (identical) pairs of twins aged 50-69 years, postmenopausal, and free of diseases affecting bone, recruited from a national register of twins and with a media campaign. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Bone mineral density measured at the hip, lumbar spine, forearm, and for the whole body by dual energy x ray absorptiometry in relation to differences in the vitamin D receptor genotype. RESULTS--At all sites the values of bone density among dizygotic twins were more similar in those of the same vitamin D receptor genotype than in those of differing genotype, and the values in the former were closer to the correlations seen in monozygotic twins. Women with the genotype that made them at risk of osteoporotic fracture had an adjusted bone mineral density that was significantly lower by SD 0.5 to 0.6 at the hip, lumbar spine, and for the whole body. The results could not be explained by differences in age, weight, years since menopause, or use of hormone replacement therapy. CONCLUSIONS--The findings that in postmenopausal women in Britain bone density-particularly at the hip and spine-is genetically linked and specifically associated with the vitamin D receptor genotypes should lead to novel approaches to the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

Full text

PDF
1357

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. DeFries J. C., Fulker D. W. Multiple regression analysis of twin data. Behav Genet. 1985 Sep;15(5):467–473. doi: 10.1007/BF01066239. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Farrow S. Allelic variation and the vitamin D receptor. Lancet. 1994 May 21;343(8908):1242–1242. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(94)92147-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hustmyer F. G., Peacock M., Hui S., Johnston C. C., Christian J. Bone mineral density in relation to polymorphism at the vitamin D receptor gene locus. J Clin Invest. 1994 Nov;94(5):2130–2134. doi: 10.1172/JCI117568. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Kelly P. J., Hopper J. L., Macaskill G. T., Pocock N. A., Sambrook P. N., Eisman J. A. Genetic factors in bone turnover. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1991 Apr;72(4):808–813. doi: 10.1210/jcem-72-4-808. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Masud T., Langley S., Wiltshire P., Doyle D. V., Spector T. D. Effect of spinal osteophytosis on bone mineral density measurements in vertebral osteoporosis. BMJ. 1993 Jul 17;307(6897):172–173. doi: 10.1136/bmj.307.6897.172. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Morrison N. A., Qi J. C., Tokita A., Kelly P. J., Crofts L., Nguyen T. V., Sambrook P. N., Eisman J. A. Prediction of bone density from vitamin D receptor alleles. Nature. 1994 Jan 20;367(6460):284–287. doi: 10.1038/367284a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Pocock N. A., Eisman J. A., Hopper J. L., Yeates M. G., Sambrook P. N., Eberl S. Genetic determinants of bone mass in adults. A twin study. J Clin Invest. 1987 Sep;80(3):706–710. doi: 10.1172/JCI113125. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Smith D. M., Nance W. E., Kang K. W., Christian J. C., Johnston C. C., Jr Genetic factors in determining bone mass. J Clin Invest. 1973 Nov;52(11):2800–2808. doi: 10.1172/JCI107476. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Spector T. D., Cooper C., Lewis A. F. Trends in admissions for hip fracture in England and Wales, 1968-85. BMJ. 1990 May 5;300(6733):1173–1174. doi: 10.1136/bmj.300.6733.1173. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Tokita A., Kelly P. J., Nguyen T. V., Qi J. C., Morrison N. A., Risteli L., Risteli J., Sambrook P. N., Eisman J. A. Genetic influences on type I collagen synthesis and degradation: further evidence for genetic regulation of bone turnover. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994 Jun;78(6):1461–1466. doi: 10.1210/jcem.78.6.8200950. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Williams C. J., Christian J. C., Norton J. A., Jr TWINAN90: a FORTRAN program for conducting ANOVA-based and likelihood-based analyses of twin data. Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 1992 Jul;38(2-3):167–176. doi: 10.1016/0169-2607(92)90084-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from BMJ : British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES