Research article

IFNGR1 single nucleotide polymorphisms in rheumatoid arthritis

Stefan Mattyasovszky^1,2,4 , Alla Skapenko^1,2 , Joachim R Kalden² , Peter E Lipsky³ and Hendrik Schulze-Koops^1,2

¹  Nikolaus Fiebiger Center for Molecular Medicine, Clinical Research Group III, University of Erlangen, Germany

²  Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Erlangen, Germany

³  National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

⁴  Department of Trauma Surgery, University of Mainz, Germany

author email corresponding author email

Arthritis Research & Therapy 2006, 8:R63doi:10.1186/ar1927

Published:	23 March 2006

Abstract

On the basis of their biological function, potential genetic candidates for susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis can be postulated. IFNGR1, encoding the ligand-binding chain of the receptor for interferon gamma, IFNγR1, is one such gene because interferon gamma is involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. In the coding sequence of IFNGR1, two nucleotide positions have been described to be polymorphic in the Japanese population. We therefore investigated the association of those two IFNGR1 single nucleotide polymorphisms with rheumatoid arthritis in a case-control study in a central European population. Surprisingly, however, neither position was polymorphic in the 364 individuals examined, indicating that IFNGR1 does not contribute to susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis, at least in Caucasians.