Association of Long-Chain Noncoding RNA H19 and MEG3 Gene Polymorphisms and Their Interaction with Risk of Osteoarthritis in a Chinese Han Population.

To analyze the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the long-chain noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) H19 and maternal expressed gene 3 (MEG3) with the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) in a Chinese Han population. A total of 230 patients with OA and 230 control subjects were recruited. Sanger sequencing was used to analyze the genotypes of the H19 gene rs217727 and rs3741219 loci and the MEG3 gene rs7158663 locus. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the levels of the microRNAs (miRNA) hsa-miR-4804-5p, hsa-miR-8071, hsa-miR-8072, hsa-miR-3960, hsa-miR-4307, and hsa-miR-1265 in the plasma. The risk of OA was significantly increased by the A allele of the rs217727 locus of H19 (odds ratio = 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-1.42, p = 0.001). The H19 gene rs3741219 locus SNP had no significant correlation with the risk of OA (p > 0.05). The risk of OA in subjects carrying the rs7158663 locus A allele of MEG3 was 1.32 times higher compared with those carrying the G allele (95% CI: 1.16-1.50, p < 0.01). SNP rs217727 of H19 was associated with the plasma levels of lncRNA H19, hsa-miR-4804-5p, hsa-miR-8071, hsa-miR-8072, and hsa-miR-3960, and SNP rs7158663 in MEG3 was associated with the plasma levels of lncRNA MEG3, hsa-miR-4307, and hsa-miR-1265. Specific SNPs of the H19 rs217727 and MEG3 rs7158663 loci are associated with the risk of OA. The possible underlying molecular mechanisms, which remain to be confirmed, are their likely influence on the expression levels of the lncRNA H19 and MEG3, which in turn alters the expression level of their target miRNAs.

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