@article{936ac3fc462b423fb1d5b73a17ae7c2a,
title = "Association of the Asporin D14 Allele with Lumbar-Disc Degeneration in Asians",
abstract = "Lumbar-disc degeneration (LDD) is a polygenic disease. Susceptibility genes reported so far are mainly extracellular matrix proteins. D14 allele of asporin (ASPN) is associated with osteoarthritis (OA). Candidate-gene association studies showed that the D14 allele is also significantly associated with LDD in Chinese and Japanese individuals. Meta-analysis showed that individuals harboring a D14 allele had higher risk with a summary odds ratio of 1.70 (p = 0.000013). ASPN expression in vertebral discs increased with age and degeneration. Our results indicate ASPN is a LDD gene in Asians, and common risk factors may be considered for OA and LDD.",
author = "Song, \{You Qiang\} and Cheung, \{Kenneth M.C.\} and Ho, \{Daniel W.H.\} and Poon, \{Sandy C.S.\} and Kazuhiro Chiba and Yoshiharu Kawaguchi and Yuichiro Hirose and Mauro Alini and Sibylle Grad and Yee, \{Anita F.Y.\} and Leong, \{John C C.Y.\} and Luk, \{Keith D.K.\} and Yip, \{Shea Ping\} and Jaro Karppinen and Cheah, \{Kathryn S.E.\} and Pak Sham and Shiro Ikegawa and Danny Chan",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Ms. Pei Yu for coordinating blood collection and assistance in MRI and questionnaire acquisition. This work was supported by grants from the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong (AoE/M-04/04) and grant-in-aid from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science of Japan (Contract grant number: 19209049).",
year = "2008",
month = mar,
day = "3",
doi = "10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.12.017",
language = "English",
volume = "82",
pages = "744--747",
journal = "American Journal of Human Genetics",
issn = "0002-9297",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "3",
}