Osteoporosis, one of the most common metabolic bone disorders, and osteoarthritis, the common degenerative joint disease, are conditions in which, according to available data, the OPG/RANK/RANKL system dysfunction is most likely involved. The focus of this master thesis is RANKL, the protein responsible for activity, differentiation and survival of osteoclasts, and consequently, for the process of bone turnover. In the aforementioned diseases, the increased RANKL gene expression increases osteoclastogenesis and bone deterioration. A number of genetic variations affecting the synthesis and/or activity of this protein have been identified in the RANKL gene. The aim of this thesis was to determine whether gene polymorphisms rs2296533 (SNP 1) and rs7984870 (SNP 2) have any impact on the expression of RANKL in human bone tissue of osteoporotic and osteoarthritic subjects. The study included 166 subjects, divided into three groups: subjects with osteoporosis (OP) (n = 75), subjects with osteoarthritis (OA) (n = 54) and healthy subjects (n = 24). We extracted DNA from blood samples and analyzed two single nucleotide polymorphisms SNP1 and SNP2, using genotyping with hydrolysis probes. Allelic and genotypic frequencies of SNP 1 and SNP 2 were determined for Slovenian subjects and their clinical significance was evaluated. We discovered that the frequency of genotypes for both polymorphisms in the Slovenian population is similar (TT : TC : CC = 22,3 : 57,2 : 20,5 for SNP1 and GG : GC : CC = 22,3 : 57,8 : 19,9 for SNP2) and that the genotype pairs occur together in 99,4 %. The minor allele was allele C for both SNPs and is occurring with an allele frequency of 49,1 % in the case of SNP1 and 48,8 % in the case of SNP2. Frequencies of genotypes indicate linkage equilibrium of both SNPs, so we wondered whether they have the same effect on RANKL gene expression. The statistical analysis with the Kruskal–Wallis test showed that the RANKL gene expression is not statistically significantly different between the genotypes. However, there is a statistically significant difference between the diagnoses, namely the expression is as expected higher in OP and OA. In conclusion, there is a significantly higher expression of RANKL in the subjects with OP when compared with healthy subjects. In the OA group, only the frequency of mutated allele is significantly higher when compared with healthy subjects. Both conclusions indicate that the studied polymorphisms in the RANKL gene contribute to the susceptibility to osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
|