The European Journal of Orthodontics Advance Access published online on May 15, 2009
The European Journal of Orthodontics, doi:10.1093/ejo/cjp017
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The P561T polymorphism of the growth hormone receptor gene has an inhibitory effect on mandibular growth in young children
* Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Unit of Translational Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki
** Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences
*** Department of Oral Health and Development Sciences, Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai
**** Section of Pediatric Dentistry, Division of Oral Health, Growth and Development, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Address for correspondence Yasunori Sasaki, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Unit of Translational Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-7674, Japan, E-mail: sasakiy{at}nagasaki-u.ac.jp
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Abstract |
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P561T heterozygous missense mutation in the growth hormone receptor (GHR) is a candidate genetic polymorphism (single-nucleotide polymorphism) for human mandibular growth. The purpose of this study was to assess whether this mutation affects mandibular growth during early childhood. The difference in mandibular growth between P561T heterozygous and wild-type individuals was analysed by cephalometric measurements during childhood. The subjects included 33 children with mandibular protrusion (aged 3–12 years, 16 males and 17 females) and 27 normal children (aged 3–13 years, 14 males and 13 females). Genomic DNA extracted from buccal epithelial cells was genotyped for the P561T heterozygous mutation with a molecular analysis (polymerase chain reaction—restriction fragment length polymorphism method). Two of the patients with normal occlusion and five with mandibular protrusion were heterozygous for the mutation.
Chi-square analysis showed that the frequency of this mutation did not differ statistically between the normal and mandibular protrusion subjects. Multilevel model analysis of the 101 cephalograms showed that the mutation reduced the linear measurements of the mandible. These findings suggest that P561T heterozygous mutation affects mandibular growth during early childhood, and this mutation in the GHR gene is hypothesized to function as an inhibitory factor in the process of mandibular growth.