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Case Reports
. 2009 Oct;2(5):384-6.
doi: 10.1093/ndtplus/sfp082. Epub 2009 Jul 6.

Polymorphisms of the glucocorticoid receptor and avascular necrosis of the femoral heads after treatment with corticosteroids

Rachida Bouamar  1 , Jan Willem Koper  2 , Elisabeth F C van Rossum  2 , Willem Weimar  2 , Teun van Gelder
Affiliations
Case Reports

Polymorphisms of the glucocorticoid receptor and avascular necrosis of the femoral heads after treatment with corticosteroids

Rachida Bouamar et al. NDT Plus. 2009 Oct.

Abstract

A female patient developed avascular necrosis of the femoral heads after receiving low doses of glucocorticosteroids (GC) for 3 months. Genotyping of the GC receptor (GR) showed that she was heterozygous for the Bcl-1 allele and heterozygous for the N363S allele. Interestingly, these GR variants are both associated with higher sensitivity to glucocorticoids. It is not known whether the GR gene polymorphisms are causally related to osteonecrosis. However, the presence of these GR variants, as a combination present in only 1% of the normal Caucasian population, seems suggestive. Studies are warranted to investigate the importance of polymorphisms related to GC sensitivity.

Keywords: avascular necrosis; glucocorticoid receptor; glucocorticosteroids; polymorphism.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The alleles of the glucocorticoid receptor gene and their frequencies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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