GDF5 and stage 5 chronic kidney disease: A study [39] found that rs1800469 at TGF-β1 was associated with end stage renal disease in individuals from the Jammu and Kashmir regions in Northern India, while a study [29] of women from Northern Europe found an association between lumbar disc degeneration and the rs143383 polymorphism at GDF5, which indicates that GDF5 is a culprit gene for lumbar disc degeneration in that population.