title: Tumour necrosis factor microsatellites in reactive arthritis.
abstract: The purpose was to study tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a, -b and -c microsatellites as potential new susceptibility markers for reactive arthritis (ReA). Fifty-nine patients typed for HLA-B27 were studied for frequencies of TNF microsatellite alleles and compared with allele frequencies determined from 285 random haplotypes and 46 healthy HLA-B27-positive controls. TNFa, -b and -c microsatellite sequences were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, and the size of the product was defined by an automated sequencer. The frequencies of TNFa6 and -c1 alleles were found to be increased in patients with ReA, whereas TNFa11 and -c2 frequencies were decreased as compared to control haplotypes. The increase in the c1 allele in patients with ReA independently from HLA-B27 suggests that it might be a new susceptibility marker for the disease. The association of ReA with other alleles was due to a linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B27.
authors.affiliation: Turku Immunology Centre and Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuokko
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koskinen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Westman
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yli-Kerttula
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toivanen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ilonen
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D016918:Arthritis, Reactive / Q000235:genetics*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D000091402:Prohibitins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; C000717331:PHB2 protein, human; D000091402:Prohibitins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha