Association of Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms with Periodontitis

Objective: The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is involved in a variety of biological processes, including the maintenance of bone homeostasis and the regulation of immune response. The aim of this study was to investigate whether polymorphisms in the VDR gene are associated with susceptibility to periodontitis in a Taiwanese population.

Material and Methods: Ninety-one generalized aggressive periodontitis patients (AgP), 344 chronic periodontitis patients (CP) and 157 periodontally healthy controls (HC) were recruited for the study. Genotypes of the ApaI, BsmI, FokI and TaqI polymorphism sites in the VDR gene were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The distribution of genotypes among groups was compared by logistic regression analyses.

Results: The distribution of BsmI genotypes among the three groups was significantly different. The odds ratios for carriage of the B allele (BB+Bb versus bb) in AgP and CP were 0.522 (95% CI=0.273-0.962, p=0.042) and 0.559 (95% CI=0.364-0.863, p=0.008), respectively. The prevalence of the FokI-FF genotype was significantly higher in the AgP compared with the HC. The FF genotype seemed to increase the susceptibility to AgP (FF versus Ff+ff, OR=2.320, 95% CI=1.347-4.017, p=0.003). There was no significant difference in the genotype distribution or allelic frequencies of ApaI and TaqI among groups.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the VDR FokI-FF genotype might be a potential risk factor for aggressive periodontitis, however, the VDR BsmI-B allele is associated with a decreased risk for aggressive periodontitis and chronic periodontitis in Taiwanese.