Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting 0.5–1% of the population worldwide. The disease has a heterogeneous character, including clinical subsets of anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive and APCA-negative disease. Although the pathogenesis of RA is poorly un...

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Main Authors: Bax, Marieke, van Heemst, Jurgen, Huizinga, Tom W. J., Toes, Rene E. M.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Springer-Verlag 2011
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3132380/
id pubmed-3132380
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-31323802011-08-24 Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned? Bax, Marieke van Heemst, Jurgen Huizinga, Tom W. J. Toes, Rene E. M. Review Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting 0.5–1% of the population worldwide. The disease has a heterogeneous character, including clinical subsets of anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive and APCA-negative disease. Although the pathogenesis of RA is poorly understood, progress has been made in identifying genetic factors that contribute to the disease. The most important genetic risk factor for RA is found in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus. In particular, the HLA molecules carrying the amino acid sequence QKRAA, QRRAA, or RRRAA at positions 70–74 of the DRβ1 chain are associated with the disease. The HLA molecules carrying these “shared epitope” sequences only predispose for ACPA-positive disease. More than two decades after the discovery of HLA-DRB1 as a genetic risk factor, the second genetic risk factor for RA was identified in 2003. The introduction of new techniques, such as methods to perform genome-wide association has led to the identification of more than 20 additional genetic risk factors within the last 4 years, with most of these factors being located near genes implicated in immunological pathways. These findings underscore the role of the immune system in RA pathogenesis and may provide valuable insight into the specific pathways that cause RA. Springer-Verlag 2011-05-10 2011-08 /pmc/articles/PMC3132380/ /pubmed/21556860 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00251-011-0528-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2011
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Bax, Marieke
van Heemst, Jurgen
Huizinga, Tom W. J.
Toes, Rene E. M.
spellingShingle Bax, Marieke
van Heemst, Jurgen
Huizinga, Tom W. J.
Toes, Rene E. M.
Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?
author_facet Bax, Marieke
van Heemst, Jurgen
Huizinga, Tom W. J.
Toes, Rene E. M.
author_sort Bax, Marieke
title Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?
title_short Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?
title_full Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?
title_fullStr Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?
title_full_unstemmed Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?
title_sort genetics of rheumatoid arthritis: what have we learned?
description Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting 0.5–1% of the population worldwide. The disease has a heterogeneous character, including clinical subsets of anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive and APCA-negative disease. Although the pathogenesis of RA is poorly understood, progress has been made in identifying genetic factors that contribute to the disease. The most important genetic risk factor for RA is found in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus. In particular, the HLA molecules carrying the amino acid sequence QKRAA, QRRAA, or RRRAA at positions 70–74 of the DRβ1 chain are associated with the disease. The HLA molecules carrying these “shared epitope” sequences only predispose for ACPA-positive disease. More than two decades after the discovery of HLA-DRB1 as a genetic risk factor, the second genetic risk factor for RA was identified in 2003. The introduction of new techniques, such as methods to perform genome-wide association has led to the identification of more than 20 additional genetic risk factors within the last 4 years, with most of these factors being located near genes implicated in immunological pathways. These findings underscore the role of the immune system in RA pathogenesis and may provide valuable insight into the specific pathways that cause RA.
publisher Springer-Verlag
publishDate 2011
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3132380/
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