TY - JOUR T1 - Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and exacerbation frequency in COPD JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p3597 AU - Jennifer Quint AU - Gavin Donaldson AU - Nancy Wassef AU - John Hurst AU - Michael Thomas AU - Jadwiga Wedzicha Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3597.abstract N2 - 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. ER -