A single-nucleotide polymorphism in MMP9 is associated with decreased risk of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head

// Jieli Du 1, 2, * , Wanlin Liu 2, * , Tianbo Jin 3 , Zhenqun Zhao 2 , Rui Bai 2 , Huiqin Xue 2 , Junyu Chen 1, 2 , Mingqi Sun 2 , Xiyang Zhang 3 , Guoqiang Wang 2 , Jianzhong Wang 2 1 Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, 010050, China 2 Department of orthopedics and Traumatology, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, 010030, China 3 The College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, 710069, China * Co-first authors, these authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Guoqiang Wang, email: wangguoqianggq@163.com Jianzhong Wang, email: wangjianzhongwj@163.com Keywords: MMP9, MMP2, single nucleotide polymorphisms, osteonecrosis of the femoral head, association study Received: May 31, 2016      Accepted: September 05, 2016      Published: September 15, 2016 ABSTRACT Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a common hip joint disease, and steroid-induced ONFH accounts for a large number of cases. Here, we examined eight previously-identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MPP2 and MPP9 genes of 285 steroid-induced ONFH patients and 507 healthy controls from northern China to determine whether these SNPs were associated with the risk of developing steroid-induced ONFH. Chi-squared tests and genetic model and haplotype analyses were used to evaluate associations. The rs2274755 SNP in MMP9 was associated with a decreased risk of steroid-induced ONFH in the allele, dominant, and additive models. Additionally, the “CGC” MMP9 haplotype was associated with a 0.69-fold decrease in the risk of steroid-induced ONFH. Although additional, larger population-based studies are needed to confirm these findings, our results reveal for the first time an association between a MMP9 SNP at the rs2274755 locus and a decreased risk of steroid-induced ONFH in a northern Chinese population.