PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - MARTHE T. MAEHLEN
AU  - GRY B. NORDANG
AU  - SILJE W. SYVERSEN
AU  - DÉSIRÉE M. van der HEIJDE
AU  - TORE K. KVIEN
AU  - TILL UHLIG
AU  - BENEDICTE A. LIE
TI  - <em>FCRL3</em> –169C/C Genotype Is Associated with Anti-citrullinated Protein Antibody-positive Rheumatoid Arthritis and with Radiographic Progression
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.110489
DP  - 2011 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 2329--2335
VI  - 38
IP  - 11
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/38/11/2329.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/38/11/2329.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2011 Nov 01; 38
AB  - Objective. Studies of Caucasian populations have shown conflicting results concerning the association between a promoter polymorphism –169T>C of the Fc receptor-like 3 (FCRL3) gene and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is unknown whether FCRL3 is associated with autoantibody status and disease severity. We investigated associations between FCRL3 –169T>C and autoantibody status and joint damage in patients with RA. Methods. A total of 652 Norwegian patients with RA from 2 cohorts and 981 Norwegian controls, previously genotyped for FCRL3 –169T>C (rs7528684), were studied. Data on anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and rheumatoid factor (RF) were available. The EURIDISS cohort (disease duration ≤ 4 yrs at baseline) was followed longitudinally, with assessment of radiographic hand damage at baseline and after 10 years (n = 117) according to the van der Heijde-modified Sharp score. Results. We found significant associations with ACPA-positive RA for both the C allele (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.08–1.52, p = 0.004) and the C/C genotype (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.18–2.10, p = 0.002). Similar associations were seen with RF-positive RA. No association was found with ACPA-negative or RF-negative RA. The C/C genotype was found to be associated with 10-year radiographic progression in multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses, after adjustment for ACPA, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, age, and sex. Conclusion. The promoter polymorphism of FCRL3 was associated with autoantibody-positive RA. Despite the low number of patients, the C/C genotype of the FCRL3 polymorphism consistently and independently predicted radiographic progression. These findings suggest that FCRL3 is involved in both disease susceptibility and progression.