title: The MHC2TA -168A>G gene polymorphism is not associated with rheumatoid arthritis in Austrian patients.
abstract: An association between susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a common -168A>G polymorphism in the MHC2TA gene with differential major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II molecule expression was recently reported in a Swedish population. The objective of the present study was to replicate this finding by examining the -168A>G polymorphism in an Austrian case-control study. Three hundred and sixty-two unrelated RA cases and 351 sex-matched and age-matched controls as well as 1,709 Austrian healthy individuals were genotyped. All participants were from the same ethnic background. Genotyping was performed using 5' allelic discrimination assays. The association between susceptibility to RA and the -168A>G single nucleotide polymorphism was examined by chi-square test. Comparison was made assuming a dominant effect (AG + GG genotypes versus AA genotype). In contrast to the primary report, the frequency of MHC2TA -168G allele carriers was not significantly different between patients and controls in the Austrian cohort. The homozygous MHC2TA -168 GG genotype was more frequent in matched controls than in Austrian RA patients. There was no association between the presence of RA-specific autoantibodies and the MHC2TA -168 GG genotype. In this cohort of Austrian patients, no association between the MHC2TA polymorphism and RA was found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Medical University Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yazdani-Biuki
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brickmann
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wohlfahrt
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: März
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Renner
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutjahr
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Langsenlehner
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krippl
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wascher
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Paulweber
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Graninger
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Brezinschek
mesh_terms: D000225:Adenine; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics*; D001317:Austria; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006147:Guanine; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013548:Sweden; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C083728:MHC class II transactivator protein; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D006147:Guanine; D000225:Adenine