Abstract
Objective
Genetic and environmental factors seem to be involved in the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We analyzed whether a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism in the aggrecan gene was associated to RA.
Methods
The study population comprised 170 European-derived Brazilian patients with diagnosis of RA. The control group comprised 148 European-derived Brazilian healthy blood donors. The aggrecan VNTR polymorphism was genotyped by DNA amplification by polymerase chain reaction, followed by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel.
Results
There was a statistically significant higher frequency of alleles of shorter length in the patient group compared to controls (p = 0.001), suggesting that individuals carrying short alleles are more likely to develop RA. There was no association between short alleles and clinical characteristics of RA.
Conclusion
Our results provide evidence of an association between the aggrecan gene VNTR polymorphism and RA.
Key Indexing Terms:Footnotes
-
T.B. de Souza, BSc; E.F. Mentz, BSc; D. Simon, PhD, Universidade Luterana do Brasil; C.V. Brenol, MSc; R.M. Xavier, PhD; J.C.T. Brenol, PhD, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre; J.A. Chies, PhD, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.
-
Supported by Universidade Luterana do Brasil.
- Accepted for publication July 30, 2008.