CommentsGenetic factors have an important role in bone metabolism. Epidemiological data, including twin studies, leave little doubt that bone mass and osteoporosis are predominantly influenced by genetic factors, with approximately 80% of the variance in bone density genetically determined. 1 The need for prevention of osteoporosis has logically led to an active search for its genetic predictors. The normal allelic variants of several genes are being investigated for their role in the regulation of bone mass. 2 With the importance of vitamin D in calcium homeostasis, the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene is an obvious candidate gene, and its 3 common polymorphisms have been the most extensively investigated.Osteoporotic fracturing in the first year after liver transplantation is a major cause of morbidity, occurring in up to 40% of cholestatic patients. 3 It is caused by a combination of 2 effects. First, chronic liver disease may cause pretransplantation osteopenia, which is a major determinant for posttransplantation fracturing. The second skeletal insult is provided by the well-recognized phenomenon of accelerated bone loss in the first months after liver transplantation. The degree of pretransplantation osteopenia and early posttransplantation bone loss are both variable; their underlying causes are unknown, and predictors in the individual patient are poorly defined. The identification of genetic factors influencing hepatic osteopenia and bone loss after liver transplantation would provide clinically useful predictors for posttransplantation fracturing.The study of Guardiola et al investigates the influence of VDR genotypes on bone loss after liver transplantation. They showed that 16 men with the bb genotype (b allele is defined by the presence of the polymorphic Bsm1 restriction endonuclease site) lost less vertebral bone mass at 3 months after transplantation than 20 men with Bb or BB genotypes. This difference apparently persisted up to 24 months, although only 18 patients were followed up to this time. Although these results are very interesting, I believe they have to be assessed with caution. Patient numbers are small, and no fracture data are given. The patients are all men with predominantly viral or alcoholic disease; immunosuppression was cyclosporine based, with initial quadruple therapy; and information is not available to assess the possible beneficial mechanism of the favorable genotype. Such results, even if confirmed by a larger study in this population, may not be applicable to the general posttransplantation population.The importance of the VDR gene in the regulation of bone mass in the general and postmenopausal population is still highly controversial and adds more caution to interpretation of this study. The results of studies with much larger numbers of healthy patients have been extremely variable, 3 with some studies showing a positive correlation between bone mass and VDR alleles [5][6][7][8] and some studies showing no correlation. 2,9-12 These major discrepancies remain u...