FOKI POLYMORPHISM, VITAMIN D RECEPTOR GENE START CODON AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH TUBERCULOSIS

Tuberculosis is the second factor in the deaths caused by infectious diseases in
the world. Out of every ten infected people, only in one the clinical symptoms of the disease is
developed. The correct vitamin D receptor activity on the nuclei of macrophages is one of the main
components of the host innate immunity against M. tuberculosis. In the present study, the relationship
between FokI polymorphism in the vitamin D receptor gene and tuberculosis has been investigated.
Materials & Methods: The subjects were 76 patients with tuberculosis and 81 healthy controls. The
genomic DNA was extracted from the blood leukocytes of all study participants, and amplified by
PCR technique. Then the RFLP process was performed on all PCR products and the FokI
polymorphism region was studied. The frequency of each of allele and genotypes was specified in the
case and control groups and then analyzed by Chi-square test.
Results: The frequencies of FF genotype were 52.4% and 55.6% in patient and healthy groups,
respectively, and also, ff genotype were 8.3% and 8.9% in patient and healthy groups; (OR= 0.99,
95% CI 0.33 – 2.96, P= 0.99). These differences in frequency between them were not statistically
significant.
Conclusion: In this study, there was no statistically significant relationship between allelic and
genotype frequency of FokI (F/f) polymorphism in VDR gene and susceptibility to tuberculosis in the
respective statistical society.