PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A Márquez
AU  - J Hernández-Rodríguez
AU  - M C Cid
AU  - R Solans
AU  - S Castañeda
AU  - M E Fernández-Contreras
AU  - M Ramentol
AU  - I C Morado
AU  - J Narváez
AU  - C Gómez-Vaquero
AU  - V M Martínez-Taboada
AU  - N Ortego-Centeno
AU  - B Sopeña
AU  - J Monfort
AU  - M J García-Villanueva
AU  - L Caminal-Montero
AU  - E de Miguel
AU  - R Blanco
AU  - Spanish GCA Consortium
AU  - O Palm
AU  - O Molberg
AU  - J Latus
AU  - N Braun
AU  - F Moosig
AU  - T Witte
AU  - L Beretta
AU  - A Santaniello
AU  - G Pazzola
AU  - L Boiardi
AU  - C Salvarani
AU  - M A González-Gay
AU  - J Martín
TI  - Influence of the <em>IL17A locus</em> in giant cell arteritis susceptibility
AID  - 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-205261
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
PG  - 1742--1745
VI  - 73
IP  - 9
4099  - http://ard.bmj.com/content/73/9/1742.short
4100  - http://ard.bmj.com/content/73/9/1742.full
SO  - Ann Rheum Dis2014 Sep 01; 73
AB  - Objective Different lines of evidence have highlighted the role of IL-17A in the inflammatory process occurring in giant cell arteritis (GCA). The aim of the present study was to assess whether the IL17A locus influences GCA susceptibility and its clinical subphenotypes. Methods We carried out a large meta-analysis including a total of 1266 biopsy-proven GCA patients and 3779 healthy controls from four European populations (Spain, Italy, Germany and Norway). Five IL17A polymorphisms (rs4711998, rs8193036, rs3819024, rs2275913 and rs7747909) were selected by tagging and genotyped using TaqMan assays. Allelic combination and dependency tests were also performed. Results In the pooled analysis, two of the five analysed polymorphisms showed evidence of association with GCA (rs2275913: PMH=1.85E−03, OR=1.17 (1.06–1.29); rs7747909: PMH=8.49E–03, OR=1.15 (1.04–1.27)). A clear trend of association was also found for the rs4711998 variant (PMH=0.059, OR=1.11 (1.00–1.23)). An independent effect of rs2275913 and rs4711998 was evident by conditional regression analysis. In addition, the haplotype harbouring the risk alleles better explained the observed association than the polymorphisms independently (likelihood p value <10−05). Conclusions Polymorphisms within the IL17A locus show a novel association with GCA. This finding supports the relevant role of the Th17 cells in this vasculitis pathophysiology.