Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in CCR6, TAGAP and TNFAIP3 with Rheumatoid Arthritis in African Americans

• Authors: Elizabeth A. Perkins, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Dawn Landis, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Zenoria L. Causey, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Yuanqing Edberg, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Richard J. Reynolds, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Laura B. Hughes, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Doyt L Conn, Emory University; Peter K. Gregersen, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research; Robert P. Kimberly, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Jeffrey C. Edberg, University of Alabama at Birmingham; S. Louis Bridges, Jr., University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Journal Title: Arthritis and Rheumatism
• Volume: Volume 64, Number 5
• Publisher: Wiley | 2012-05, Pages 1355-1358
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/art.33464
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Immunology; Health Sciences, General

Abstract

Objective: We previously reported an analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three validated European rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility loci, TAGAP, TNFAIP3, and CCR6 in African-Americans with RA. Unexpectedly, the disease-associated alleles were different in African-Americans than in Europeans. In an effort to better define their contribution, we performed additional SNP genotyping in these genes. Methods: Seven SNPs were genotyped in 446 African Americans with RA and 733 African American controls. Differences in minor allele frequency between cases and controls were analyzed after controlling for global proportion of European admixture, and pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) was estimated among the SNPs. Results: Three SNPs were significantly associated with RA: TNFAIP3 rs719149 A allele (OR (95% CI) 1.22 (1.03–1.44) (p =0.02); TAGAP rs1738074 G allele OR 0.75 (0.63–0.89), (p =0.0012); and TAGAP rs4709267 G allele 0.74 (0.60–0.91), (p =0.004). Pairwise LD between the TAGAP SNPs was low (R2=0.034). The haplotype containing minor alleles for both TAGAP SNPs was uncommon (4.5%). After conditional analysis on each TAGAP SNP, its counterpart remained significantly associated with RA (rs1738074 for rs4709267 p=0.00001; rs4709267 for rs1738074 p=0.00005), suggesting independent effects. Conclusions: SNPs in regulatory regions of TAGAP and an intronic SNP (TNFAIP3) are potential susceptibility loci in African Americans. Pairwise LD, haplotype analysis, and SNP conditioning analysis suggest that these two SNPs in TAGAP are independent susceptibility alleles. Additional fine mapping of this gene and functional genomic studies of these SNPs should provide additional insight into the role of these genes in RA.