Abstract: Objective: To investigate the association between Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene BsmI and TaqI polymorphisms and chronic periodontitis (CP) among Uygur adults in Moyu County of Xinjiang. Methods: The buccal swabs of 185 subjects, including 95 CP patients and 90 healthy controls, were randomly selected from epidemiological investigation of Uygur adults in Moyu County from March to April 2013. VDR BsmI and TaqI were tested with polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to investigate the association between VDR gene polymorphism and CP. Results: There was statistically significant difference in the frequencies of VDR BsmI genotypes and alleles between the CP patients and healthy controls (P=0.016,P=0.003). There was no statistically significant difference in the frequencies of VDR TaqI genotypes and alleles between two groups. Chronic periodontitis and healthy controls only show significant difference in VDR BsmI allele frequencies in male and female. One way logistic analysis showed that bb genotype and allele b might be the risk factors of CP. Conclusion: The susceptibility to chronic periodontitis among Uygur adults in Moyu County of Xinjiang is related to the BsmI polymorphism of VDR gene, the bb genotype and allele b may be the risk factors of CP in Uygur adults.

Key words: Chronic periodontitis, Vitamin D receptor, Genetic polymorphism, Uygur nationality