Association of apolipoprotein A5 genetic polymorphisms with steroid-induced osteonecrosis of femoral head in a Chinese Han population

BACKGROUND Previous studies suggested that apolipoprotein A5 (ApoA5) genetic polymorphisms (SNPs) may result in lipid metabolism disorders. Therefore, genetic polymorphisms in ApoA5 may be associated with the occurrence of osteonecrosis of femoral head (ONFH). METHODS We designed a case-control study including 223 patients of osteonecrosis and 201 age- and sex-matched control subjects to analyze the association between ApoA5 polymorphisms and susceptibility of steroid-induced ONFH. We utilized polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method to genotype two SNPs (rs662799 and rs3135506) in ApoA5 gene. RESULTS We found both rs662799 and rs3135506 were associated with the risk of ONFH in codominant, dominant, and recessive model, respectively. Haplotype analyses suggested that T-C haplotype was associated with decreased risk of ONFH, whereas the haplotype C-C was significantly associated with an increased risk of ONFH. CONCLUSION Our study suggested that ApoA5 genetic polymorphisms were associated with susceptibility to ONFH in Chinese population. However, our results need further investigation with large sample size and various populations. VIRTUAL SLIDES The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/13000_2014_229.