Background and aims: Paget's disease of bone (PDB) is a focal bone disorder affecting the skeleton segmentally. The disease affects osteoclasts which increase in size, number, and activity. One of the etiopathogenic hypotheses is that the disease is genetic. It has been reported that Rho GEF Vav3 is an essential factor in the regulation of osteoclast function, and alteration of the VAV3 gene could influence the development of the disease. The aim of our study was to perform an association study between variants of the VAV3 gene and the risk of developing Paget's disease of bone.
Patients and methods: The genotypic and allelic distribution of the VAV3 c.892A>T/p.T298S (rs7528153) polymorphism was compared between a cohort of 238 Spanish subjects with PDB and a cohort of 253 healthy subjects.
Results: Our results indicated that individuals carrying the VAV3 rs7528153 TT genotype were at a significantly increased risk of developing PDB (p < 0.001, odds ratio [OR] = 3.15, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.77-5.61).
Conclusions: These results suggest that inheriting the VAV3 rs7528153 polymorphism is a likely susceptibility factor for developing Paget's disease of bone.