TAP1 and TAP2 polymorphism in Spanish patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
OBJECTIVE
HLA-B27 is strongly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS); however, the association is not absolute and additional susceptibility factors in the MHC region could play a role. We studied the influence of polymorphism in the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) genes, including point mutations not previously analyzed.


METHODS
HLA-B*27 typing and subtyping as well as TAP1 and TAP2 typing were performed by PCR-RFLP. Forty-four AS individuals were compared to 61 ethnically matched random individuals and 35 B*27-positive healthy unrelated individuals as controls.


RESULTS
The frequency of the TAP1B allele was significantly greater in the patient group compared with the random controls (corrected p value (p(c)) = 0.035; odds ratio = 15.8, p = 0.01). A greater frequency was also evident when B*27-positive patients and B*27- positive healthy controls were compared, although it did not reach statistical significance. No differences were observed in TAP2 alleles between the groups studied.


CONCLUSIONS
We did not find a primary association between TAP2 polymorphism and AS susceptibility. Formal confirmation of a linkage between the TAP and HLA-B loci would probably require family studies.
Fraile
A
A
Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina 'López Neyra', C.S.I.C., Granada, Spain.
Collado
M D
MD
Matarán
L
L
Martín
J
J
Nieto
A
A
D000071181:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 2; D000071450:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 3; D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D006801:Humans; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013030:Spain; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000235:genetics*
D000071181:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 2; D000071450:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 3; D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; C073119:TAP1 protein, human; C071692:TAP2 protein, human