passages.id: 184
passages.type: title
passages.text: Lack of association of C-C chemokine receptor 5 /\32 deletion status with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, and disease severity.
passages.id: 185
passages.type: abstract
passages.text: OBJECTIVE: C-C chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) plays an important role in inflammation. A 32 base-pair (/\32) deletion in the CCR5 gene leads to a nonfunctional receptor. This deletion has been reported to have a protective effect on the development and progression of several autoimmune diseases. We investigated whether the /\32 deletion is associated with disease susceptibility in a population of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and lupus nephritis (LN); and whether it is associated with disease severity. METHODS: DNA samples from 405 RA patients, 97 SLE patients, 113 LN patients, and 431 healthy controls were genotyped for the CCR5 /\32 deletion. Differences in genotype frequencies were tested between patients and controls. Association of genotypes with disease severity was analyzed. RESULTS: Genotype frequencies of each group were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The genotype frequencies of patients did not differ significantly from controls (CCR5//\32, /\32//\32: RA 18.3% and 1.2%, respectively; SLE 17.5% and 2.1%; LN 13.3% and 1.8%; controls 20.0% and 2.8%). However, there was a trend for lower /\32 deletion allele frequency in LN patients compared to controls (p = 0.08). There was no significant association between the CCR5 status and disease severity in RA, SLE, or LN. CONCLUSION: Although an association with LN cannot be excluded, the CCR5 /\32 deletion does not seem to be a disease susceptibility genotype for RA, SLE, or LN. No significant effect of the /\32 deletion on disease severity was demonstrated.