Cumhur Kaan Yaltirik1, Özlem Timirci-Kahraman2, Seda Gulec-Yilmaz3, Selcuk Ozdogan4, Basar Atalay5, Turgay Isbir6. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey dr_cky@yahoo.com. 2. Department of Molecular Medicine, Aziz Sancar Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. 3. Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Health Science, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. 4. Department of Neurosurgery, Kartal Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. 5. Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. 6. Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: The present study aimed to investigate the role of an aggrecan (ACAN) gene variant and proteoglycan levels in the risk of lumbar degenerative disc disease (LDDD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 108 patients with LDDD and 103 healthy controls were enrolled. Molecular assessment of the ACAN gene (c.6423T>C) variant was determined by real time-polymerase chain reaction. Proteoglycan levels in serum were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The frequency of all alleles and genotypes in all study groups were distributed according to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In addition, no association between the ACAN gene (c.6423T>C) variant and presence of risk factors for LDDD was detected. However, proteoglycan levels were significantly lower in patients with LDDD compared to the control group (p<0.00001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that proteoglycan has emerged as a potential novel biomarker which might be used for prediction of LDDD risk. Copyright
BACKGROUND/AIM: The present study aimed to investigate the role of an aggrecan (ACAN) gene variant and proteoglycan levels in the risk of lumbar degenerative disc disease (LDDD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 108 patients with LDDD and 103 healthy controls were enrolled. Molecular assessment of the ACAN gene (c.6423T>C) variant was determined by real time-polymerase chain reaction. Proteoglycan levels in serum were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The frequency of all alleles and genotypes in all study groups were distributed according to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In addition, no association between the ACAN gene (c.6423T>C) variant and presence of risk factors for LDDD was detected. However, proteoglycan levels were significantly lower in patients with LDDD compared to the control group (p<0.00001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that proteoglycan has emerged as a potential novel biomarker which might be used for prediction of LDDD risk. Copyright