SUSCEPTIBILITY LOCUS FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS

摘要

It is known that various loci within the genome affect the susceptibility of an individual to osteoarthritis. The present invention relates to the identification of a genetic region that may contain an osteoarthritis susceptibility locus. A genome-wide linkage analysis was carried out using families affected by osteoarthritis. Results were stratified according to sex and joint affected. This produced evidence for linkage of markers on chromosome 2q. A denser map was then produced using more markers in this region. Transmission disequilibrium analysis of the markers highlighted by the linkage analysis revealed disequilibrium at markers D2S117 and D2S325, indicating the presence of an osteoarthritis susceptibility locus in the chromosomal region close to these markers.