Molecular Analysis of Polymorphisms in IL-6 Gene and the Predisposition to Osteoporosis Using Variable Number of Tandem Repeats-Polymerase Chain Reaction (VNTRS-PCR) Technique

Osteoporosis (OP) is considered to be a multifactorial syndrome with environmental and genetic factors
interacting to determine bone mass. IL6 is a pleiotropic cytokine that has multiple effects on different cell types.
It is stimulates osteoclast development, therefore, it has been implicated in osteoporosis. In this study, 26
patients that diagnosed clinically as osteoporosis were enrolled at Al-Kademyia teaching hospital –Ministry of
health from April 2009 to February 2010.
Also, 30 blood samples from 30 healthy individuals, considered as negative control, were screened. One ml of
venous blood (VB) sample was obtained from each subject. DNA was extracted from VB using DNA isolation
kit. The 3' flanking region of the IL-6 gene was amplified using a variable number tandem repeats-polymerase
chain reaction (VNTRs-PCR). PCR products were electrophoresed using 3% agarose gel electrophoresis.
Analysis of genotypes in the 56 individuals studied shows evidence of 4 length variants with product sizes
ranging approximately between (610-695) bp. The analysis showed that 24(92%) of patients were carried risk
genotypes, while (7%) were carried non-risk genotypes. All negative controls were carried non-risk genotypes.
Investigating whether an individual possesses a risk genotype of an IL-6 gene, a gene that correlates with
predisposition to osteoporosis by screening if this patient homozygous or heterozygous for IL-6 gene using
VNTRs-PCR considered as a simple and more specific analysis.