The association between polymorphisms in Wnt antagonist genes and bone response to hormone therapy in postmenopausal Korean women

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the association between polymorphisms in Wnt antagonist genes and bone response to hormone therapy (HT) in postmenopausal Korean women. A prospective study was conducted with 303 postmenopausal women receiving sequential estrogen plus progestogen therapy in a university hospital. The dickkopf (Dkk) 1 c.318A>G, Dkk2 c.437G>A, Dkk3 c.1003A>G, secreted frizzled-related protein (sFRP) 1 rs3242C>T, rs16890444C>T, sFRP3 c.970C>G, sFRP4 c.958C>A, c.1019G>A, and sFRP5 c.20G>C polymorphisms were analyzed, and bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and femoral neck (FN) was measured before and after 1 year of sequential estrogen plus progestogen therapy. The percentage changes in BMD of the FN after 1 year of HT were found to be significantly (P < 0.05) different according to the haplotype genotype composed of the sFRP4 c.958C>A and c.1019G>A polymorphisms after adjustment for baseline BMD. The percentage change in BMD at the FN after 1 year of HT was significantly higher in the AA/AG haplotype genotype than in the AG/CG (P < 0.01) or CG/CG (P < 0.05) haplotype genotype. However, any single and combined polymorphisms measured were not related with nonresponsiveness to HT when a nonresponder was defined as a woman who had lost more than 3% of BMD per year after HT. The haplotype genotypes of sFRP4 c.958C>A and c.1019G>A polymorphisms are genetic factors that affect changes in BMD of the FN after HT in postmenopausal Korean women.