title: Systemic lupus erythematosus: a genetic epidemiology study of 695 patients from China.
abstract: Our purpose was to explore potential genetic models for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and analyze genetic epidemiologic characteristics of SLE in a Chinese population. Data for 695 patients with SLE were obtained by using a uniform questionnaire. Patients, clinical characteristics and their family history were analyzed using software. A complex segregation analysis was conducted to propose potential genetic models for SLE. The mean +/- SD age of onset were 30.2 +/- 10.5 years and mean time to progression to SLE was 32.5 +/- 44.4 months. The most frequent initial manifestations were malar rash (61.3%). During the evolution of the disease, the main clinical features were arthritis in 73.6% of our patients, followed by malar rash (68.1%), and renal involvement (56.7%). As the first symptom, the late-onset group (onset of disease beyond the age of 50 years) less often showed malar rash (45% vs. 63.4% in the early-onset group; p = 0.001). There were no significant differences in the other cumulative clinical symptoms between late-onset and early-onset group, except for a lower prevalence of malar rash, photosensitivity and alopecia and a higher prevalence of mucosal ulcers in the late-onset group. A positive family history of SLE was obtained in 50 patients (7.2%). There were no statistical differences in clinical characteristics between familial SLE and sporadic SLE patients. The heritability of SLE was 43.6%, the genetic model of SLE could be polygenetic model and major gene mode is the best fitted one. SLE could be a multifactorial disease with polygenetic model.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dermatology and Department of Dermatology at First Hospital, Anhui Medical University, 69 Meishan Road, Hefei, Anhui 230022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: X F
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: D Q
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: X J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008957:Models, Genetic