PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - F. YESIM K. DEMIRCI
AU  - AMY S. DRESSEN
AU  - CANDACE M. KAMMERER
AU  - M. MICHAEL BARMADA
AU  - AMY H. KAO
AU  - ROSALIND RAMSEY-GOLDMAN
AU  - SUSAN MANZI
AU  - M. ILYAS KAMBOH
TI  - Functional Polymorphisms of the Coagulation Factor II Gene (<em>F2</em>) and Susceptibility to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.100728
DP  - 2011 Apr 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 652--657
VI  - 38
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/38/4/652.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/38/4/652.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2011 Apr 01; 38
AB  - Objective. Two F2 functional polymorphisms, rs1799963 (G20210A) and rs3136516 (A19911G), are known to be associated with elevated levels/activity of prothrombin (encoded by F2) and risk of thrombosis. Since patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have high risk of thrombosis and accelerated atherosclerosis and also high prevalence of anti-prothrombin antibodies, we hypothesized that these two F2 polymorphisms could affect risk of SLE. Methods. We investigated these polymorphisms in 627 women with SLE (84% Caucasian Americans, 16% African Americans) and 657 female controls (78% Caucasian Americans, 22% African Americans). Results. While the rs1799963 A allele was almost absent in African Americans, it was present at ∼2% frequency in Caucasian Americans and showed no significant association with SLE. The rs3136516 G allele frequency was significantly higher in Caucasian SLE cases than in controls (48.4% vs 43.7%, respectively) with a covariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.22 (95% CI 1.03–1.46, p = 0.023). The association was replicated in African Americans (rs3136516 G allele frequency 91.2% in cases vs 82.2% in controls) with an adjusted OR of 1.96 (95% CI 1.08–3.58, p = 0.022). Stratification of Caucasian SLE patients based on the presence or absence of cardiac and vascular events (CVE) revealed stronger association with the CVE-positive SLE subgroup than the CVE-negative SLE subgroup (OR 1.42 vs 1.20). Prothrombin activity measurements in a subset of SLE cases demonstrated higher activity in the carriers of the rs3136516 G allele. Conclusion. Our results suggest a potential role for prothrombin and the crosstalk between hemostatic and immune/inflammatory systems in SLE and SLE-associated cardiovascular events, which warrants further investigation in independent samples.