PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shih-Chia Liu
AU  - Tzu-Yang Chang
AU  - Yann-Jinn Lee
AU  - Chen-Chung Chu
AU  - Marie Lin
AU  - Zong-Xian Chen
AU  - Hsin-Fu Liu
AU  - Ching-Wen Dang
AU  - Shih-Chuan Chang
AU  - Chyou-Shen Lee
AU  - Tien-Ling Chen
AU  - Chun-Hsiung Huang
TI  - Influence of HLA-DRB1 genes and the shared epitope on genetic susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis in Taiwanese.
DP  - 2007 Apr 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 674--680
VI  - 34
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/34/4/674.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/34/4/674.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2007 Apr 01; 34
AB  - OBJECTIVE:To investigate the association of predisposing and protective HLA-DRB1 alleles with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its clinical markers in a Taiwanese population. METHODS: A total of 273 patients with RA and 480 healthy controls, all of Taiwanese origin, were genotyped for HLA-DRB1 alleles by polymerase chain reaction and sequence-based typing assays. The associations between RA and HLA-DRB1 alleles and genotypes were investigated by chi-squared test. RESULTS: The DRB1*0405 and *1001 phenotypes showed the most significant associations with RA (OR 4.04, 95% CI 2.84-5.77, pc = 3.2 10(-14); OR 5.25, 95% CI 2.10-13.06, pc = 3.0 10(-3), respectively). Individuals carrying single or double doses of the shared epitope (SE/non-SE or SE/SE) had higher risks of RA. The compound heterozygote of DRB1*0405/*1001 showed the largest increase in RA risk (OR 15.8, 95% CI 2.48-100.7, pc = 0.004). Single or double doses of SE alleles were significantly associated with a higher bone erosion rate. Rheumatoid factor positivity and bone erosion were more frequent in patients with at least one copy of DRB1*0405. CONCLUSION: Our results show that SE-encoding HLA-DRB1*0405 and *1001 are associated with RA in a Taiwanese population; this is the first time DRB1*1001 has been described in persons of Asian ethnicity. Heterozygotes of DRB1*0405 and *1001 predicted the strongest susceptibility to RA, suggesting that this genotype enhances susceptibility to RA in Taiwanese.