Association of FAS gene polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus: A case-control study and meta-analysis

The association of functional polymorphisms in the promoter of the apoptosis gene FAS with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility has been a controversial subject. We conducted a case-control study to investigate this association in a Chinese population and performed a meta-analysis in different populations. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs2234767 (−1377G>A) and rs1800682 (−670A>G) were genotyped by TaqMan allelic discrimination assays in 552 Chinese SLE patients and 718 healthy controls. In our case-control study, we observed allelic association between the promoter SNP rs2234767 [P=0.033, odds ratio (OR)=0.836, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.709–0.986] and SLE but not the SNP rs1800682. Haplotype analysis revealed that one haplotype of GA was significantly associated with the disease (P=0.039, OR=1.184, 95% CI, 1.009–1.391). In the meta-analysis available studies, including our data, were combined using the STATA software package v.7.0. The meta-analysis revealed a significant association between FAS polymorphisms and SLE (rs2234767 A vs. G allele; P=0.004, OR=0.819, 95% CI, 0.715–0.938, rs1800682 G vs. A allele: P=0.034, OR=0.791, 95% CI, 0.637–0.983). In conclusion, FAS gene polymorphisms may contribute to SLE susceptibility in the Chinese population, and the meta-analysis shows that FAS polymorphisms may be associated with SLE susceptibility in different populations.