Rheumatoid Arthritis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Rheumatoid Arthritis, including details on treatment, symptoms, causes, medication.

Finnish case-control and family studies support PTPN22 R620W polymorphism as a risk factor in rheumatoid arthritis, but suggest only minimal or no effect in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Seldin MF, Shigeta R, Laiho K, Li H, Saila H, Savolainen A, Leirisalo-Repo M, Aho K, Tuomilehto-Wolf E, Kaarela K, Kauppi M, Alexander HC, Begovich AB, Tuomilehto J

Rowe Program in Genetics, Departments of Biochemistry and Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA. mdfseldin@ucdavis.edu

Several studies have identified the PTPN22 allelic variant 1858 C/T that encodes the R620W amino-acid change as a putative susceptibility factor in autoimmune diseases. The current study was undertaken to examine a large cohort of Finnish rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) subjects using both population control and, importantly, family-based association methods. The latter is particularly important when, as is the case for the 1858 C/T polymorphism, the frequency of the variant allele (T) differs in both major ancestral populations and in subpopulations. The analysis of rheumatoid factor-positive 1030 RA probands from Finland provides strong support for association of this variant in both population studies (allele specific odds ratio (OR)=1.47, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.27-1.70, P=3 x 10(-7)) and in family studies (P<10(-6)). In contrast, no allelic association was seen with JIA (230 probands) and only weak evidence for a genotypic effect of 1858T homozygotes was observed in this population.

Published 1 December 2005 in Genes Immun, 6(8): 720-2.
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