Patent ID: 7354712

Claim:
A method of determining susceptibility to vertebral bone mineral density (BMD)-independent fracture in a Caucasian female subject, the subject comprising: (i) at least one estrogen receptor Î± gene comprising a PvuII site and a XbaI site, wherein the PvuII site can exist as a P or p allelic form, and the XbaI site can exist as an X or x allelic form; and (ii) a vitamin D receptor gene, wherein the vitamin D receptor gene comprises a BsmI site, an ApaI site and a TaqI site, wherein the BsmI site can exist as a B or b allelic form, the ApaI site can exist as an A or a allelic form, and the TaqI site can exist as a T or t allelic form, said method comprising analyzing nucleic acid molecules obtained from the subject to determine which of the P, p, X, and x alleles of the estrogen receptor Î± gene are present, and further comprising determining the copy number of a member of the group consisting of the B, b, A, a, T and t alleles of the vitamin D receptor gene, wherein the presence of a haplotype comprising the p and x alleles of the estrogen receptor a gene and a homozygous haplotype comprising the baT alleles of the vitamin D receptor gene is indicative of an increased susceptibility to vertebral BMD-independent fracture.