[Association of vitamin D receptor and its genetic polymorphisms with nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Objective: To investigate the gene expression and polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Method: The expression of VDR mRNA was detected by fluorescent quantitative PCR in PBMC from 48 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 48 controls. The FokI and ApaI loci of all subjects were detected by TaqMan-MGB fluorescent probe PCR. Result: The VDR mRNA △Ct value was 9.32±0.91 and 7.31±1.04 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients and controls, respectively. Using multivariate Logistic regression analysis, the results showed that the distribution of FokI point Ff genotype in the case group was significantly higher than that in the control group (adjusted OR =1.97, 95% CI =1.33-2.91). No difference was found between the control group and the patient group at ApaI loci. Further haplotype analysis was used to find that compared with fa haplotypes, the distribution of FokI Ff genotype in the case group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (adjusted OR =0.65, 95% CI =0.48-0.87). There were significant differences in the gene expression level of VDR among the patients with the different genotypes of FokI loci ( F =194.5, P <0.01). Conclusion: Genetic variants of the VDR gene are closely associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.