Background: Functional polymorphisms in genes of proinflammatory signalling cascades may contribute to the genetic risk of osteoarthritis (OA).
Objective: To examine a possible association between end-stage OA of the hip and knee joint and a known single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the COX-2 gene promoter.
Methods: The SNP -765 G→C (rs20417) of the COX-2 gene promoter was genotyped by pyrosequencing in 531 (320 women/211 men) patients with OA from the Ulm Osteoarthritis Study and 400 (200 women/200 men) regional controls from the south-west of Germany.
Results: In the whole study population the C allele was associated with a lower risk (per allele OR 0.57; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.75, p<0.0001) and the G allele with a higher risk for end-stage OA. Analysis of subgroups confirmed this result for primary, bilateral, hip and knee OA.
Conclusion: The promoter polymorphism rs20417 of the COX-2 gene contributes to the genetic risk for end-stage hip and knee OA.