Estrogen receptor alpha gene PvuII polymorphism and risk of fracture in postmenopausal women: a meta-analysis.

Numerous studies have evaluated the association between estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) gene PvuII polymorphism and fracture risk in postmenopausal women. However, the results have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to examine the association between the ESR1 gene PvuII polymorphism and fracture risk in postmenopausal women. Studies published from PubMed, Google Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure data were retrieved. Pooled odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using fixed- or random-effects models. A total of 6 case-control studies containing 592 patients and 705 controls were included in this meta-analysis. We found no association between the PvuII polymorphism in the ESR1 gene and fracture in postmenopausal women. Taking into account the effect of ethnicity, further stratified analyses were performed. In the subgroup analysis, no significant association was found in Caucasians and in Asians. No publication bias was found in the present study (all P > 0.05). In conclusion, the ESR1 gene PvuII polymorphism may not be associated with fracture risk in postmenopausal women. Additional larger studies are needed to confirm this conclusion.