Association Between Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Asporin (ASPN) and BMP5 with the Risk of Knee Osteoarthritis in a Chinese Han Population

The aim of this study was to investigate associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms rs13301537 in asporin (ASPN) and rs373444 in the bone morphogenetic protein 5 (BMP5) gene with knee osteoarthritis (OA) susceptibility in a Chinese Han population. ASPN rs13301537 and BMP5 rs373444 polymorphisms were genotyped in patients with knee OA and age- and sex-matched OA-free controls from a Chinese Han population. A total of 510 patients with knee OA and 520 controls were enrolled in the study. CT and CC genotypes of rs13301537, and variant C, were associated with a significantly increased risk of knee OA. On stratification analysis, the association between the risk of OA and rs13301537 CT heterozygotes compared with TT homozygotes was stronger in females and those aged > 65 years. In contrast, the CT and CC genotypes of rs373444 in BMP5 were not significantly associated with the risk of knee OA, even after further stratification analysis according to age or sex. Our results showed that ASPN rs13301537 T to C change and variant C genotype may contribute to knee OA risk in a Chinese Han population.