Associations between Variants in BDNF/BDNFOS Gene and Lumbar Disc Herniation Risk among Han Chinese People

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a low back pain disorder and associated with several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and BDNFOS gene in LDH susceptibility remains unknown. To examine whether the variants contribute to LDH, 7 SNPs were genotyped in 380 patients and 692 healthy controls among Han Chinese population. Multiple genetic models, stratification by age/gender and haploview analysis was used by calculating odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Rs11030064 in BDNFOS gene was associated with modified susceptibility for LDH at age ≤50 years but three loci (rs6265, rs11030104 and rs10767664) of BDNF gene increased LDH risk at age >50 years. Further, rs11030096 polymorphism in BDNFOS gene was associated with LDH the increased susceptibility of LDH in females. Haplotype analysis shown that haplotype “GCC” in the block (rs988712, rs7481311, and rs11030064) increased LDH risk (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.06–2.10, p = 0.022) at age ≤50 years. However, there was no significant association between BDNF/BDNFOS gene and LDH risk in the overall before stratified analysis. For the first time, our results provide evidence on polymorphism of BDNF / BDNFOS gene associated with LDH risk in Chinese Han population.