Aim: Recent studies have demonstrated that the Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in bone metabolism. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the gene of secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (SFRP1), a Wnt antagonist, is involved in the etiology of osteoporosis using association study.
Methods: Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the SFRP1 gene were genotyped and analyzed for association with bone mineral density (BMD) in 931 Japanese women (63.5 +/- 6.7 years old, mean +/- standard deviation).
Results: One SNP (rs16890444) located in intron and another (rs3242) located in the 3'-untranslated region of the sFRP1 gene were significantly associated with the lumbar spine BMD value, and BMD values for both the femoral neck and the total hip, respectively. Women with the T/T genotype of the former SNP had a lower BMD value of the lumbar spine (L2-L4) compared with those with C/C or C/T (BMD value adjusted for age, duration after menopause, and body mass index: 0.781 vs 0.830, P = 0.037), while women with the T/T genotype of the latter SNP had higher BMD values of femoral neck and total hip compared with those with C/C or C/T (adjusted BMD value: femoral neck, 0.721 vs 0.633, P = 0.025; total hip, 0.834 vs 0.737, P = 0.027).
Conclusion: These results suggest that the SFRP1 may be a candidate gene for a BMD determinant, but further studies need to consolidate the present findings.