PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jennifer Quint
AU  - Gavin Donaldson
AU  - Nancy Wassef
AU  - John Hurst
AU  - Michael Thomas
AU  - Jadwiga Wedzicha
TI  - Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and exacerbation frequency in COPD
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - p3597
VI  - 38
IP  - Suppl 55
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3597.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3597.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38
AB  - Background: Genetic variants in the vitamin D (vitD) pathway have been associated with COPD. FokI and BsmI polymorphisms in the vitD receptor (VDR) gene have been associated with muscle strength in COPD. These polymorphisms and the Taq1α VDR polymorphism have been associated with respiratory infection but they have not been investigated in COPD.Methods: We studied 97 COPD patients (61 male, 28 frequent exacerbators (FE)); mean age 71.8 years (SD8.8) FEV1% predicted 50.3 (19.7), smoking history 50.7 (34.2) pack years. All patients were sampled in the winter (Jan/Feb/March) and summer (June/July/August) at baseline for vitD levels. Serum samples were tested for VitD(25-OH) by chemiluminescence based immunoassay. All polymorphisms were genotyped by forced RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) using DNA extracted from blood. FEwere defined a priori as having ≥3 symptom based exacerbations per year, and infrequent (IE)<3.Results: All genotypes were within Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. The FokI polymorphism was not related to TaqI or BsmI. The BsmI and TaqI polymorphisms were linked. There was no relationship with genotyping and exacerbation frequency for any of the polymorphisms.View this table:VDR polymorphisms and exacerbation frequencyThere was a seasonal difference in vitD levels but this was the same for all polymorphisms; all p>0.05.Conclusions: FokI, BsmI and TaqI VDR polymorphisms are not associated with exacerbation frequency and do not affect vitD levels in COPD.