Introduction: Vitamin D plays an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of normal and malignant cells. In several studies polymorphism in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene has been reported to be associated with prostate cancer (CaP). The rationale of this study was to determine the association between the VDR (Fok-I) polymorphism and the risk of developing CaP. Materials and Methods: Polymorphism was detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism method in 128 CaP patients (age range 43–89 years) and 147 age-matched controls (age range 42–91 years). PCR products were designated as F or f allele according to the absence or presence of a restriction site. Results and Conclusions: The frequencies of the FF, Ff and ff genotypes were 60.9, 35.2 and 3.9% in CaP patients and 42.2, 46.9 and 10.9% in healthy controls, respectively. The genotype frequency distribution between CaP and the control group was statistically significant (p = 0.003). However, the distribution of genotypes was not significantly associated with the Gleason score. The present study thus demonstrates that the FF genotype (or F allele) of the VDR gene plays an important role in determining the risk of CaP and could be postulated as a good candidate genetic marker.

Keywords:
Prostate cancer, Vitamin D receptor (Fok-I) polymorphism, Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism, Single nucleotide polymorphisms
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© 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel
2005
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