Lack of secondary hyperparathyroidism in sub-group of vitamin D deficient postmenopausal women: Is VDR gene polymorphism behind this mystery?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We aimed to determine the cause of non-secondary hyperparathyroidism (Non-SHPT) in Indian postmenopausal women.

MATERIALS &

METHODS

334 apparently healthy postmenopausal women were assessed for bone mineral homeostaisis including Vitamin D, PTH and VDR polymorphism.

RESULTS

83% of the subjects had vitamin D deficiency further associated with VDR gene polymorphism (P 0.000). A sizable number of subjects (N = 83) did evoke SHPT despite low vitamin D levels. We observe that VDR gene polymorphism was strongly associated in the sub-group of non-SHPT.

CONCLUSION

lack of SHPT warrants researchers to study the pathophysiology of non-SHPT in detail to substantiate our findings.