The association of growth differentiation factor 5 rs143383 gene polymorphism with osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is caused by a complex set of pathophysiological factors. The genetic factors involved in the occurrence and progress of the disease have been widely discussed by scholars. It was found that growth differentiation factor 5 (GDF5) gene polymorphisms may be linked to OA susceptibility, which has been controversial and needs to be further confirmed by an updated meta-analysis. OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between GDF5 rs143383 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and OA susceptibility. METHODS: All relevant articles that met the criteria are retrieved and included, and the search deadline is June 2022. The allele frequencies and different genotype frequencies of GDF5 rs143383 loci in each study were extracted and statistically analyzed by R4.1.3 software, and the different genetic models were analyzed based on their odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The meta-analysis explained that GDF5 rs143383 SNP was crucial correlated with OA in all patients with OA of knee, hip and hand. The codominant gene model in the whole crowd (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.07–1.27, P < 0.01) enlightened that OA was vitally associated with GDF5 gene polymorphism. At the same time, we did a subgroup analysis based on ethnicity. The codominant gene model (OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.12–1.53, P < 0.01) in Asian population, the codominant homozygote model (OR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.14–1.43), codominant heterozygote gene model (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.01–1.23, P = 0.02), and dominant gene model (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.09–1.31, P < 0.01) in Caucasian are analyzed by subgroup analysis. It means that there is a momentous relationship between the GDF5rs143383 gene polymorphism and OA, especially among Caucasians. In addition, we also discussed different types of OA separately and discover that the GDF5rs143383 gene polymorphism was relevant for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and hand osteoarthritis, and it was more significant in the Caucasian population. But due to the high heterogeneity in hip osteoarthritis, it could not be accurately concluded. Furthermore, we also analyzed the osteoarthritis of different genders and found that the GDF5 rs143383 SNP was associated with both men and women and was still significant in the Caucasian population. CONCLUSION: We found a close association between osteoarthritis and GDF5rs143383SNP in this study. From the analysis of each group, we got the same conclusion in KOA and hand OA, but which need further verification in hip OA. Considering gender, we found a close relationship between GDF5 rs143383 SNP and OA of the knee, hip and hand, both for men and women. This conclusion is more obvious in Caucasian people.