Gene-gene and gene-environment interactions are key features in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other complex diseases. The aim of this study was to use and compare three different definitions of interaction between the two major genetic risk factors of RA--the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope (SE) alleles and the PTPN22 R620W allele--in three large case-control studies: the Swedish Epi...

PedGenie beta version 2.1 is a unique, flexible, and easily implemented analysis software tool that is enhanced significantly by incorporation of meta-statistics to allow valid combined analysis of multiple studies, including mixtures of family-based and independent resources, in the detection of genetic association with common disease. Genetic Analysis Workshop 15 Problem 2 data, provided by t...

We have previously reported that IL-17(+) interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) 161-180-specific T cells have a strong pathogenic effect in experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) induced in B10RIII mice; however, this pathogenic activity is not solely attributable to the major cytokine, IL-17, produced by these cells. To determine whether other cytokines produced by Th17 cells show ...

INTRODUCTION Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a common and complex autoimmune disease. As well as the major susceptibility gene HLA-DRB1, recent genome-wide and candidate-gene studies reported additional evidence for association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in the PTPN22, STAT4, OLIG3/TNFAIP3 and TRAF1/C5 loci with RA. This study...

INTRODUCTION This study investigated five confirmed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility genes/loci (HLA-DRB1, PTPN22, STAT4, OLIG3/TNFAIP3 and TRAF1/C5) for association with susceptibility and severity in an inception cohort. METHODS The magnitude of association for each genotype was assessed in 1,046 RA subjects from the Yorkshire Early RA cohort and in 5,968 healthy UK controls. Additi...

OBJECTIVE To examine the role of the variants of the PTPN22 and HLA-DRB1 genes as predictors of mortality in inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Patients were recruited from a primary care-based inception cohort of patients with IP and were followed up prospectively. For patients who died, the cause and date of death was obtained. Cox proportional hazards re...

BACKGROUND Antibodies against citrullinated proteins (ACPA) are common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ACPA can appear before disease onset and target many self-antigens. Citrullinated fibrin/fibrinogen represents a classical ACPA target antigen, and mass spectrometry of RA synovial fluid reveals elevated citrullinated (cit) fibrinogen (Fib) peptides compared to non-RA controls. We ...

Abstract In both humans and NOD mice, type 1 diabetes (T1D) develops from the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells by T-cells. Interactions between helper CD4 +and cytotoxic CD8 +T-cells are essential for T1D development in mice. Previous work has indicated that pathogenic T-cells arise deleterious interactions relatively common genes which regulate aspects T-cell activation/effector...

INTRODUCTION Previous studies have provided inconsistent results on whether variants in the MBL2 gene, coding for the complement-activating mannan-binding lectin (MBL) protein, associate with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We re-evaluated this in context of the main environmental and genetic risk factors (smoking, HLA-DRB1 'shared epitope' (SE), PTPN22*620W), which predispose to rheumatoid factor (...