Important gene-gene interaction of TNF-α and VDR on osteoporosis in community-dwelling elders

PLoS One. 2019 Dec 30;14(12):e0226973. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226973. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Gene effects on osteoporosis have been studied separately and may have been masked by gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. We evaluated gene-gene and gene-physical activity interactions of the variants of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) genes on osteoporosis. A total of 472 elders were included. Seven variants (TNF-α: rs1799964, rs1800629, rs3093662; VDR: rs7975232, rs1544410, rs2239185, rs3782905) were genotyped. Bone mineral densities of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Predictive models' ability to discriminate osteoporosis status was evaluated by areas under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve. After multivariable adjustment, significant interactions of TNF-α rs1800629 and VDR rs3782905 were observed on overall and lumbar spine osteoporosis. In elderly women, we found that those carrying the CG/CC genotype of VDR rs3782905 were significantly associated with increased odds of overall osteoporosis compared with those carrying the GG genotype of VDR rs3782905 among those carrying TNF-α rs1800629 GG genotype. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for VDR rs3782905 CG/CC genotype in elderly women carrying TNF-α rs1800629 AG/AA and GG genotypes were 0.1 (0.01, 0.98) and 3.54 (1.51, 8.30), respectively. We observed significant differences in AUROCs between the model with traditional covariates plus variants and their interaction term and the model with traditional covariates only (AUROCs: 0.77 and 0.81; p = 0.028). Although the sample size of this study may have been relatively small, our results suggest that the interaction of the CG/CC genotype of VDR rs3782905 with TNF-α rs1800629 GG genotype was associated with increased odds of overall and lumbar spine osteoporosis in elderly women.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Area Under Curve
  • Bone Density
  • Epistasis, Genetic*
  • Female
  • Genetic Variation
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Independent Living
  • Osteoporosis / genetics*
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • ROC Curve
  • Receptors, Calcitriol / genetics*
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / genetics*

Substances

  • Receptors, Calcitriol
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • VDR protein, human

Grants and funding

Funded by National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan. NHRI-EX98-9838PI Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004663. MOST 104-2314-B-039-016 & MOST 105-2314-B-039 -025-MY3 & MOST 105-2314-B-039-021-MY3 & MOST 108-2314-B-039-031-MY2 & MOST 108-2314-B-039-035-MY3 China Medical University Hospital. DMR-107-088. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.