Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis.
BACKGROUND
A defect in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function has been suggested to contribute to susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


OBJECTIVE
To investigate polymorphisms of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene and determine any associations with RA.


METHODS
Three GR polymorphisms that tag 95% of all haplotypes across the GR gene were genotyped. These are an intron B Bcl1 polymorphism, a ttg insertion/deletion within intron F (rs2307674) and the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) lying in the 3' untranslated region of exon 9b (rs6198). The dye terminator-based SNaPshot method or size resolution by capillary electrophoresis was performed. The study population comprised 198 UK Caucasian RA cases and 393 ethnically matched controls.


RESULTS
No significant single point or haplotypic associations were found for GR polymorphisms with RA susceptibility. Furthermore, no evidence for GR polymorphisms with aspects of RA severity was seen.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study of the most comprehensive coverage of GR polymorphisms with RA, no significant contributing role for GR polymorphisms with RA was found.
Donn
Rachelle
R
Arthritis Research Campaign Epidemiology Unit (ARC/EU) and Centre for Molecular Medicine (CMM), University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Payne
Debbie
D
Ray
David
D
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000235:genetics*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid