M.Sc In Medical Sciences With A Research Thesis
Bar Ilan University - Faculty Of Medicine In Zefat
Zefat, North District, Israel
Research thesis: Determining the risk of stress fracture in IDF soldiers based on SNPs identified for Osteoporosis: Stress Fractures (SF) are common in the combat military service in which the soldier is required to exert himself for an extended period of time. In contrast to a traumatic fracture (TF), in which there is a discontinuation of the bone as a result of a sudden traumatic event, SF are the result of losses accumulated by repeated sub-maximal effort. Diagnosis of SF relative to TF is generally more difficult, and recovery time is longer. SF involves many financial costs both medically and in combatant personnel planning. Despite current diagnostic methods, about 69% of the stress fractures are idiopathic (risk factors are unknown) and therefore difficult to prevent. In this study we conducted, in cooperation with the IDF Medical Corps, a genetic characterization based on individual variables, of three research groups: 82 male soldiers with SF, 100 soldiers with TF, and 118 soldiers without TF or SF (total N=300). We examined if Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), associated with bone mineral density or osteoporosis, or those proposed in previous studies, are statistically significantly associated with SF. All subjects provided a saliva test and completed a medical questionnaire. Significant associations between frequency of SNPs and the stress fractures were found for rs1864325 in MAPT (minor allele frequency, MAF = 0.40 in SF vs. 0.28 in the general population, p-value=0.038) and rs2450083 in COLEC10 (MAF 0.28 vs. 0.34, p-value=0.026), and rs42517 in COL1A2 (MAF 0.72 in SF vs. 0.80, p-value=0.052). Minor allele of rs1554606 (IL6) was rarer in the TF group than general population (p-value=0.013). Risk scores were calculated on the basis of genetic markers (SNPs).Further validation of these SNPs and genes will enable early diagnosis and prevention of SF in young people, as well as provide an etiological insight into bone fragility.