Association between miRNA Target Sites and Incidence of Primary Osteoarthritis in Women from Volga-Ural Region of Russia: A Case-Control Study

• Main Authors: Anton Tyurin, Daria Shapovalova, Halida Gantseva, Valentin Pavlov, Rita Khusainova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Diagnostics
• Subjects: gene; locus; osteoarthritis; miRNA; ethnicity
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/7/1222

Over the past decades, numerous studies on the genetic markers of osteoarthritis (OA) have been conducted. MiRNA targets sites are a promising new area of research. In this study, we analyzed the polymorphic variants in 3′ UTR regions of <i>COL1A1</i>, <i>COL11A1</i>, <i>ADAMTS5</i>, <i>MMP1</i>, <i>MMP13</i>, <i>SOX9</i>, <i>GDF5</i>, <i>FGF2</i>, <i>FGFR1</i>, and <i>FGFRL1</i> genes to examine the association between miRNA target site alteration and the incidence of OA in women from the Volga-Ural region of Russia using competitive allele-specific PCR. The T allele of the rs9659030 was associated with generalized OA (OR = 2.0), whereas the C allele of the rs229069 was associated with total OA (OR = 1.43). The T allele of the rs13317 was associated with the total OA (OR = 1.67). After Benjamini-Hochberg correction, only rs13317 remained statistically significant. According to ethnic heterogeneity, associations between the T allele (rs1061237) with OA in women of Russian descent (OR = 1.77), the G allele (rs6854081) in women of Tatar descent (OR = 4.78), the C allele (rs229069) and the T allele (rs73611720) in women of mixed descent and other ethnic groups (OR = 2.25 and OR = 3.02, respectively) were identified. All associations remained statistically significant after Benjamini-Hochberg correction. Together, this study identified miRNA target sites as a genetic marker for the development of OA in various ethnic groups.