Background: We investigated SIRT-1 genetic variant and its association with vitamin D level in Egyptian patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: Seventy Egyptian subjects were enrolled in our study and divided into two groups: RA group (n = 50 patients) and healthy control group (n = 20 subjects). Five milliliter blood sample was withdrawn from each subject followed by laboratory investigation and DNA extraction for SIRT-1 gene polymorphism assessment (rs7895833 A>G, rs7069102 C>G and rs2273773 C>T) and vitamin D level expression.
Results: There was statistically significant difference between rheumatoid cases and controls with regard to vitamin D level with 88% of cases showing insufficient vitamin D versus all controls showing sufficient level. SIRT-1 different SNPs rs2273773, rs7895833and rs7069102 genotype frequencies were statistically significant in RA compared to control group (P = 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between different genotypes of rs2273773, rs7895833 and rs7069102 with regard to vitamin D level.
Conclusion: We concluded that there is a strong association between SIRT-1 polymorphism genotyping and RA. Vitamin D level was insufficient in Egyptian patients with RA.
Keywords: Egypt; Rheumatoid arthritis; SIRT-1 polymorphism; Vitamin D.