INVESTIGATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF THE CRTM AND CRTL1 GENES WITH RADIOGRAPHICALLY EVIDENT OSTEOARTHRITIS IN SUBJECTS FROM THE ROTTERDAM STUDY

Objective. To investigate whether radiographically evident osteoarthri tis (ROA) in 55-65-year-old men and women is associated with specific alleles or genotypes of the cartilage matrix protein (CRTM) and cartil age link protein (CRTL1) genes. Methods. Cases were selected from a po pulation-based study on the presence of ROA of the knee or hip, Furthe r radiographic analysis included scoring for spine and hand ROA, Contr ols, selected from the same population, were free of ROA in all joints , Results. The CRTM locus was significantly associated with hip ROA in men (odds ratio 0.50, 95% confidence interval 0.26-0.95). A significa nt association between ROA and the CRTL1 gene was not observed. Conclu sion. These results suggest that the CRTM locus may play a role in the sex-and joint site-specific pattern of ROA development.