The pathogenesis of dental caries remains unclear, with increasing evidence suggesting that genetic susceptibility plays an essential role. Previous studies have reported the association between genetic polymorphisms in lactotransferrin (LTF) and the risk of dental caries with inconsistent results. A systematic literature search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, HuGE and Google Scholar databases was performed by two authors independently for papers published before December 5, 2019 on the association between genetic variants in LTF and the risk of dental caries. We adopted the subsequent inclusion criteria to assess study eligibility: 1) The studies were based on human subjects; 2) the presence of dental caries should be screened for in both the case group and the control group; and 3) genotype data on variants in LTF were available in both the case group and the control group. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) by using random-effects models to assess the association of genetic variants in LTF with the risk of dental caries. We also performed a gene-based analysis to explore the joint association of multiple genetic variants in LTF with the risk of dental caries. Our systematic literature search identified six relevant papers for analysis. We found no significant association between rs1126478 and the risk of dental caries when meta-analysing the genotype distribution between subjects with dental caries and those without dental caries (additive model: OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 0.98–2.02; P = 0.065). However, further analysis indicated that rs1126478 was associated with dental risk in subjects who had moderate or severe dental caries compared to those without dental caries (P < 0.0001). The gene-based analysis indicated that multiple genetic variants in LTF were jointly associated with the risk of dental caries (P = 0.002). The present meta-analysis revealed some evidence of the association between rs1126478 and dental caries and that multiple genetic variants in LTF are jointly associated with the risk of dental caries. Our findings need to be validated by larger studies that adjust for important confounding factors for the risk of dental caries.

中文翻译：

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乳转铁蛋白遗传变异与龋齿之间的关联：基于元和基因的分析。


龋齿的发病机制尚不清楚，越来越多的证据表明遗传易感性起着重要作用。先前的研究报道了乳转铁蛋白（LTF）基因多态性与龋齿风险之间的关联，但结果不一致。两位作者独立对 PubMed、Cochrane 图书馆、HuGE 和 Google Scholar 数据库进行了系统文献检索，查找 2019 年 12 月 5 日之前发表的关于 LTF 遗传变异与龋齿风险之间关联的论文。我们采用了随后的纳入标准来评估研究资格：1）研究以人类受试者为基础； 2）病例组和对照组均应筛查是否存在龋齿； 3) 病例组和对照组均获得了 LTF 变异的基因型数据。我们使用随机效应模型计算了比值比 (OR) 和相应的 95% 置信区间 (CI)，以评估 LTF 遗传变异与龋齿风险的关联。我们还进行了基于基因的分析，以探索 LTF 中多个基因变异与龋齿风险的联合关联。我们系统的文献检索确定了六篇相关论文进行分析。当对有龋齿和无龋齿受试者之间的基因型分布进行荟萃分析时，我们发现rs1126478与龋齿风险之间没有显着相关性（加法模型：OR = 1.41；95% CI = 0.98–2.02；P = 0.065） 。然而，进一步分析表明，与没有龋齿的受试者相比，rs1126478 与患有中度或重度龋齿的受试者的牙科风险相关（P < 0.0001）。 基于基因的分析表明，LTF 的多个基因变异与龋齿风险共同相关（P = 0.002）。目前的荟萃分析揭示了 rs1126478 与龋齿之间关联的一些证据，并且 LTF 中的多个遗传变异与龋齿风险共同相关。我们的研究结果需要通过更大规模的研究来验证，这些研究需要调整龋齿风险的重要混杂因素。