Occupational and genetic risk factors associated with intervertebral disc disease.

Publication/Presentation Date

5-1-2007

Abstract

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional epidemiologic study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the interaction between known genetic risk factors and whole-body vibration for symptomatic intervertebral disc disease (IDD) in an occupational sample.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Risk factors of IDD include, among others, whole-body vibration and heredity. In this study, the importance of a set of known genetic risk factors and whole-body vibration was evaluated in an occupational sample of train engineers and sedentary controls.

METHODS: Eleven variations in 8 genes (COL9A2, COL9A3, COL11A2, IL1A, IL1B, IL6, MMP-3, and VDR) were genotyped in 150 male train engineers with an average of 21-year exposure to whole-body vibration and 61 male paper mill workers with no exposure to vibration. Subjects were classified into IDD-phenotype and asymptomatic groups, based on the latent class analysis.

RESULTS: The number of individuals belonging to the IDD-phenotype was significantly higher among train engineers (42% of train engineers vs. 17.5% of sedentary workers; P = 0.005). IL1A -889T allele represented a significant risk factor for the IDD-phenotype both in the single marker allelic association test (P = 0.043) and in the logistic regression analysis (P = 0.01). None of the other allele markers was significantly associated with symptoms when analyzed independently. However, for all the SNP markers considered, whole-body vibration represents a nominally significant risk factor.

CONCLUSION: The results suggest that whole-body vibration is a risk factor for symptomatic IDD. Moreover, whole-body vibration had an additive effect with genetic risk factors increasing the likelihood of belonging to the IDD-phenotype group. Of the independent genetic markers, IL1A -889T allele had strongest association with IDD-phenotype.

Volume

32

Issue

10

First Page

1129

Last Page

1134

ISSN

1528-1159

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

17471097

Department(s)

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Document Type

Article

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