DISTRIBUTION OF VITAMIN D RECEPTOR BSMI AND FOKI GENE POLYMORPHISMS IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IN THE SERBIAN POPULATION

<p style="text-align: justify;">Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. The association of vitamin D deficiency, sun exposure, and higher incidence of multiple sclerosis has been known for long, and a number of studies have confirmed anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties of vitamin D. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is responsible for most of the biological effects of vitamin D, and four VDR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)have been identified as possible risk factors in several autoimmune diseases. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of VDR polymorphisms―BsmI (rs1544410) and FokI (rs2228570) in multiple sclerosis patients within the Serbian population. A total of 169 participants from southeastern Serbia were enrolled in our study, 80 of whom were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The PCR-RFLP method was used for FokI and BsmI VDR polymorphism screening. There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of FokI genotypes and alleles between MS patients and  control subjects (p = 0.006; p = 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in BsmI genotypes and alleles between MS patients and healthy subjects (p = 0.140; p = 0.153). Our case-control study showed that the distribution of FokI rs2228570 polymorphism was more prevalent in patients with multiple sclerosis in the Serbian population, while there was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of BsmI rs1544410 polymorphism between patients with multiple sclerosis and controls. </p>