Introduction: For the health-care system and for society in general, fractures of the femoral neck are epidemic among the elderly. With increased life expectancy, this type of pathology will continue increasing in the future. The study of possible biological causes of this phenomenon will provide better understanding of the pathology and help us prevent such fractures. Different genes involved in the synthesis of nitric oxide and interleukins are related to the occurrence of fractures of the femoral neck.

Materials and methods: We studied 111 patients with fractures of the femoral neck between 2002 and 2004 and a control group of 127 patients operated on for total hip or knee replacement in the same period. In both groups we looked at different genetic polymorphisms of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-1 RA, NOS2 and NOS3. We also measured the levels of IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF alpha in patient sera.

Results: We found a significant difference for certain genetic polymorphisms related to IL-1 beta and NOS3 and patients with fractures of the femoral neck.

Conclusions: There are different genes related to inflammatory reactants which are significantly related to the presence of fractures of the femoral neck.