Effect of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism on lipid profile in Egyptian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Aim of the workTo assess the effect of vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphism on lipid profile in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and study its relation to disease characteristics.Patients and methodsThe study included 55 JIA children and 55 matched controls. The lipid profile including cholesterol, high and low-density lipoprotein (HDL and LDL), and triglycerides was assessed. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) VDR gene (rs2228570) polymorphism was assayed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in patients and control. Results:55 JIA patients were 36 girls and 19 boys (F:M 1.9:1) and with a mean of age 8.4 ± 3.1 years (3–13 years) and disease duration 1.8 ± 1.4 years (2 months ?8 years). Cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides were significantly higher (175.4 ± 12.9 mg/dl vs 140.4 ± 7.3 mg/dl, 95.9 ± 9.3 mg/dl vs 71.4 ± 8.1 mg/dl, 95.4 ± 8.3 mg/dl vs 89.3 ± 9.1 mg/dl respectively) while the HDL was significantly lower (52.6 ± 4.5 mg/dl vs 54.9 ± 2.2 mg/dl)(p < 0.001) among JIA children as compared to control. The FF genotype was significantly more frequent in JIA (n = 35; 63.6%) than control(n = 19; 34.5%)(p < 0.001)(Odds ratio 3.3; CI 95% 1.5–7.2) while the Ff genotype was more in the control (n = 29; 52.7% vs n = 5; 9.1%)(p < 0.001). There were no significant variations in the lipid profile across VDR genotypes (p greater than 0.05).There was a significant association of FF genotype (n = 35; 100%) with the oligoarticular subtype of JIA and Ff (n = 3; 60%), ff (n = 9; 60%) with the polyarticular subtype of JIA (p < 0.001).ConclusionVDR FF genotype is associated with three folds risk for JIA and VDR polymorphism is not associated with dyslipidemia in JIA.