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Modic changes and interleukin 1 gene locus polymorphisms in occupational cohort of middle-aged men

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Abstract

According to recent systematic reviews, Modic changes are associated with low-back pain. However, their pathophysiology remains largely unknown. A previous study of Northern Finnish males implicated that IL1A and MMP3 polymorphisms play a role in type II Modic changes. The purpose of the current study was to examine the association of IL1 cluster polymorphisms with Modic changes amongst middle-aged men in Southern Finland. The final study sample consisted of 108 men from three different occupations, who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a 0.1 T-scanner. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the IL1 gene cluster (IL1A c.1-889C>T; IL1B c.3954C>T; IL1RN c.1812G>A; IL1RN c.1887G>C; IL1RN c.11100T>C; IL1RN c.1506G>A) were genotyped with the SNP-TRAP method or by allele-specific primer extension on modified microarray. In all, 45 subjects had Modic changes at one or more disc levels. The presence of the minor allele of IL1A (c.1-889C>T) was associated with these changes (any Modic change p = 0.031, type II changes p = 0.036). The carriers of the T-allele had a 2.5-fold risk of Modic change and the association was independent of the other IL1 gene cluster loci studied. In addition, a minor haplotype, with a frequency of 7.5% in the study population, including the minor alleles of IL1A c.1-889C>T, IL1RN c.1812G>A, and IL1RN c.1506G>A, was significantly associated with Modic changes. This observation is in accordance with the previous finding from a different geographical area, and thus confirms the importance of the IL1A gene in the pathophysiology of Modic changes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Janna Saarela (Department of Molecular Medicine, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland) for her input in the genetic analyses. This study was financially supported by the Work Environment Fund, Finland. In addition, the authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Instrumentarium Scientific Foundation, Finland.

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Correspondence to Jaro Karppinen.

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Karppinen, J., Solovieva, S., Luoma, K. et al. Modic changes and interleukin 1 gene locus polymorphisms in occupational cohort of middle-aged men. Eur Spine J 18, 1963–1970 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-009-1139-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-009-1139-x

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