Background: The relationship between Calcitonin receptor (CTR) gene polymorphism C1377T and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women has been studied to some degree in Western countries, but the reports remain inconclusive and have not been generalized to other populations.
Purpose: To evaluate the association of CTR gene polymorphism C1377T with BMD in the Han Chinese population.
Methods: We searched for all published articles indexed in MEDLINE (1950-2014), EMBASE (1974-2014), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI, 1994-2014), and the Wanfang Database, using the key words "polymorphism," "CTR," "osteoporosis," and "bone density." The data were extracted independently by two reviewers. The heterogeneity between studies was determined using the Chi-square-based Q test. Potential publication bias was estimated using a funnel plot and Egger's linear regression test. Odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were used to evaluate the results.
Results: Six eligible studies were selected for the meta-analysis. Our analysis suggested that the C1377T polymorphism of the CTR gene was associated with BMD at the lumbar spine (95 % CI -0.57 to -0.05; P = 0.02), but not associated with BMD at the femoral neck (95 % CI -0.27 to 0.24; P = 0.90) in the postmenopausal Han Chinese population.
Conclusion: The C1377T polymorphism in the CTR gene is associated with BMD at the lumbar spine in a postmenopausal Han Chinese population and the CTR gene may become a useful genetic marker for predicting the risk of developing osteoporosis in postmenopausal Chinese women.