MRI Phenotyping of COL9A2/Trp2 and COL9A3/Trp3 Alleles in Lumbar Disc Disease: A Case-control Study in South-Western Iranian Population Reveals a Significant Trp3-Disease Association in Males

A novel missense COL9A3 variant in a pedigree with multiple lumbar disc herniation

Trp3 allele in COL9A3 gene has been widely studied in populations with intervertebral disc disease. We identified a novel pathogenic variant in COL9A3 gene in a pedigree with multiple lumbar disc herniation (LDH). The proband was a 14-year-old boy who developed LDH at the L4/5 and L5/S1 spinal segments. His father, paternal aunt and grandfather were diagnosed with LDH at an age of 35, 30 and 23, respectively. By applying whole exome sequencing, a heterozygous missense variant (c.1150C > T, p.Arg384Trp) in COL9A3 was identified. According to the ACMG guidelines, this variant is predicted to be pathogenic. In addition, prediction tools found COL9A3 protein of this variant a reduced stability, some changed charge properties, and an altered spatial conformation. Findings expanded the mutational spectrum of LDH and contributed to the understanding of COL9A3 in the pathogenesis of LDH.

A Case-control Study of Major Genetic Predisposition Risk Alleles in Developing DDD in the Northeast US Population: Effects of Gene-gene Interactions

STUDY DESIGN

A case-control study of risk alleles for degenerative disc disease (DDD) using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for phenotyping.

OBJECTIVE

We aim to provide the first statistically adequately powered study of the relationship between the presence of common risk alleles and occurrence of DDD in Eastern US population.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Many genetic predisposing factors have been identified in elevating the risk of DDD, including common variants in VDR, COL1A1, AGC1, COL9A2/3 genes.

METHODS

We utilized the Mass General Brigham (MGB) Biobank in which subjects' Medical Record is linked with genotyped data from single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. Subjects with lumbosacral spine MR imaging studies were used to construct the Cases cohort; the Biobank's Controls cohort was used as the Control cohort. Odds ratios (OR) and False-discovery-rate (FDR) q values from multiple-hypotheses-testing corrections were used to assess the likelihood of DDD given occurrence of the listed DDD risk alleles.

RESULTS

Four-hundred-fourteen subjects (mean age = 64, range = 27 to 94) were Cases and 925 Controls (mean age = 46, range = 21-61). A systematic search has identified 25 SNPs in 18 genes in the SNP arrays. At univariate level, rs1544410 in VDR was significantly associated with DDD for male subjects (odds ratio [OR] = 0.594, P = 0.011). After adjustment for all significant variants and demographics, three predictor variables had a significant association with the outcome, age (OR = 1.130, q < 0.0001), rs143383 (OR = 1.951, q = 0.056), and rs3737821 (OR = 2.701, q = 0.069). A novel variant-to-variant correlation rs143383:rs763110 had a significant adjusted OR = 7.933, q = 0.070).

CONCLUSION

In this large-scale study of common variants' correlation with the presence of DDD in the Northeast United States, we have found a novel and significant variant-to-variant interaction to be associated with the risk of developing DDD, corroborating and necessitating the inclusion of gene-gene interactions in predictive risk model development for DDD.Level of Evidence: 4.

Association between polymorphisms of collagen genes and susceptibility to intervertebral disc degeneration: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Collagens are important structural components of intervertebral disc. A number of studies have been performed for association between polymorphisms of collagen genes and risk of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) but yielded inconsistent results. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association of collagen IX alpha 2 (COL9A2) Trp2, collagen IX alpha 3 (COL9A3) Trp3, collagen I alpha 1 (COL1A1) Sp1 and collagen XI alpha 1 (COL11A1) C4603T polymorphisms with susceptibility to IVDD.

METHOD

Eligible studies were retrieved by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science prior to 31 March, 2021. Odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for association strength.

RESULTS

A total of 28 eligible studies (31 datasets comprising 5497 cases and 5335 controls) were included. COL9A2 Trp2 carriers had an increased risk of IVDD than non-carriers in overall population (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 0.99-2.06, P = 0.058), which did not reach statistical significance. However, Trp2 carriers had 2.62-fold (95% CI 1.15-6.01, P = 0.022) risk than non-carriers in Caucasians. COL9A3 Trp3 was not associated with IVDD risk (OR = 1.28, 95% CI 0.81-2.02, P = 0.299). T allele and TT genotype of COL1A1 Sp1 (+ 1245G > T) were correlated with increased risk of IVDD. Significant associations were found between COL11A1 C4603T and IVDD risk under allelic (OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.20-1.48), dominant (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.26-1.67), recessive (OR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.21-1.98) and homozygote model (OR = 1.81, 95% CI 1.40-2.34).

CONCLUSIONS

COL1A1 Sp1 and COL11A1 C4603T polymorphism are associated with IVDD risk while the predictive roles of collagen IX gene Trp2/3 need verification in more large-scale studies.

Multiple variants in collagen genes are associated with the susceptibility to lumbar disc herniation in the Chinese population

PURPOSE

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is an important cause of back pain and sciatica, but its aetiology is not fully understood. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in specific collagen genes are known to increase the risk of lumbar disc degeneration. We performed a case-control study among the Chinese Han population to investigate whether genetic variations in collagen genes were associated with the risk of LDH or not.

METHODS

We genotyped SNPs selected from 1000 Genome Projects using Agena MassARRAY technology. Three hundred and eighty-four LDH cases were compared with 384 controls of similar age, using the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval to calculate the susceptibility in several genetic models.

RESULTS

Our results revealed that subjects with the rs6122316-C variant of the COL9A3 gene had a higher likelihood of LDH than subjects with the allele T variant in both the codominant and recessive models. In addition, after gender stratification analysis, we found significant associations between rs16970089 and rs740024 and LDH risk in females. Age stratification analysis illustrated that rs16970089 and rs6122316 were also correlated with LDH risk in people over 50 years. The smoking stratification illustrated that rs2071358 and rs740024 had an increased association with LDH risk in smokers. And after drinking stratification, we also observed the significance between rs740024 and LDH risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Variants in genes for COL1A1, COL9A3 and COL2A1 significantly influence the risk of LDH. Large and well-designed studies are needed to confirm and explain these conclusions. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Collagens and elastin genetic variations and their potential role in aging-related diseases and longevity in humans

Collagens and elastin are 'building blocks' of tissues and extracellular matrix. Mutations in these proteins cause severe congenital syndromes. Adverse genetic variations may accelerate the aging process in adults contributing to premature morbidity, disability and/or mortality. Favorable variants may contribute to longevity and/or healthy aging, but this is much less studied. We reviewed the association between variation in the genes of collagens and elastin and premature aging, accelerated aging, age-related diseases and/or frailty; and the association between genetic variation in those and longevity and/or healthy aging in humans. A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE and other online databases (OMIM, Genetics Home Reference, Orphanet, ClinVar). Results suggest that genetic variants lead to aging phenotypes of known congenital disease, but also to association with common age-related diseases in adults without known congenital disease. This may be due to the variable penetrance and expressivity of many variants. Some collagen variants have been associated with longevity or healthy aging. A limitation is that most studies had <1000 participants and their criterion for statistical significance was p < 0.05. Results highlight the importance of adopting a lifecourse approach to the study of the genomics of aging. Gerontology can help with new methodologies that operationalize biological aging.

Association of COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism with intervertebral disk degeneration: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD) is a common musculoskeletal disease associated with genetic factors. COL9A3 gene encodes the α3 (IX) chain of type IX collagen that is part of the interior structure of the disc. Mutations in COL9A3 gene sequence, leading to an Arg103Trp substitution in its 3 chain (the Trp3 allele at rs61734651 site), respectively, have been found to be connected with IDD occurrence in several studies. However, those studies have showed conflict results. Thus, a meta-analysis has been performed to assess the associations between the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism and IDD.

METHODS

Data were gathered from the following four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Embase and Cochrane library up to January 01, 2018. The pooled odds ratio (polled ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the strength of relationship between the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism and IDD.

RESULTS

Eleven eligible studies with 1631 cases of IDD and 1366 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism was not associated with IDD (trp3 positive versus trp3 negative: OR = 1.31, 95%CI = 0.78-2.21, P = 0.309). Furthermore, the Egger's test and the Begg funnel plot did not show any evidence of publication bias.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that the COL9A3 trp3 polymorphism might not be associated with IDD. Nor did we find any relationship in subgroup analyses stratified by gender and ethnicity. Future researches with larger samples are required to verify this outcome.

Association of CILP, COL9A2 and MMP3 Gene Polymorphisms with Lumbar Disc Degeneration in an Indian Population

Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a multifactorial disorder caused by genetic and environmental factors. Polymorphisms in several structural and inflammatory genes like collagens, aggrecan, matrix metalloproteinases are associated with the risk of disc degeneration. In this study, we analyzed the role of a few important single nucleotide polymorphisms in cartilage intermediate layer protein (CILP), collagen 9A2 (COL9A2) and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) genes in LDD from an Indian population. Two hundred patients with LDD and 200 healthy controls were recruited for the study. Genotyping was performed by allelic discrimination assay. The rs2073711 polymorphism (CILP gene - GG genotype) was associated with reduced risk of LDD in the Indian population (OR = 0.43, p = 0.016). The rs591058 polymorphism (MMP3 gene - TT genotype) is found to be associated with lower risk among women (OR = 0.34, p = 0.041). No significant association was found between COL9A2 polymorphism rs7533552 and the risk of LDD. We conclude that the CILP gene polymorphism (rs2073711) is associated with a lower risk of LDD, the MMP3 (rs591058) gene polymorphism is associated with LDD among women, and the TT genotype confers a lower risk of LDD.

Collagen IX gene polymorphisms and lumbar disc degeneration: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

An increasing number of studies have investigated associations between collagen IX alpha 2 chain (COL9A2) and collagen IX alpha 3 chain (COL9A3) gene polymorphisms and the risk of lumbar disc degeneration (LDD). However, these studies have yielded contradictory results. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to investigate the association between the collagen IX gene polymorphisms (rs12077871, rs12722877, rs7533552 in COL9A2; rs61734651 in COL9A3) and LDD.

Methods

All relevant articles were collected from PubMed, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). The last electronic search was performed on September 1, 2017. The allele/genotype frequencies were extracted from each study. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength of associations under the five comparison genetic models. Statistical analysis was performed by Review Manager (RevMan) 5.31 software.

Results

The meta-analysis of 10 case-control studies, including 2102 LDD cases and 2507 controls, indicated that COL9A2 gene (rs12077871, rs12722877, rs7533552) and COL9A3 gene (rs61734651) polymorphisms were not associated with LDD (rs12077871: T vs. C, OR = 1.85, 95% CI = 0.87–3.91, P = 0.11; rs12722877: G vs. C, OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.69–1.01, P = 0.06; rs7533552: G vs. A, OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 0.98–1.25, P = 0.09; rs61734651: T vs. C, OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 0.51–4.84, P = 0.43). The Egger text and the Begg funnel plot did not show any evidence of publication bias.

Conclusion

rs12077871, rs12722877, and rs7533552 variants in COL9A2 and rs61734651 variant in COL9A3 were not significantly associated with a predisposition to LDD. Large-scale and well-designed studies are needed to confirm this conclusion.