There is an established association between the various D polymorphisms and increased risk of osteoarthritis, making this gene a possible candidate as a susceptibility gene to lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) [6,8,9]. A meta-analysis published in 2008 determined that the ASPN gene was shown to be upregulated with age and disc degeneration. Here, ASPN is linked to intervertebral disk degenerative disorder.