Association of the CD11b rs1143679 polymorphism with systemic lupus erythematosus in the Han Chinese population

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of the CD11b single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1143679 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Han Chinese patients, and to clarify this association with SLE clinical manifestations. METHODS: PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism and direct sequencing of CD11b rs1143679 were conducted in 584 patients with SLE and 628 healthy controls in this case–control study to compare genotype and allele frequency distributions. Correlations between CD11b genotypes and clinical manifestations were also determined. RESULTS: The frequency of the CD11b rs1143679 GA genotype was 1.89% in Han Chinese patients with SLE, which was much lower than that of European and American populations, but close to the frequency observed in individuals from Hong Kong and Thailand. The CD11b rs1143679 GA genotype was also shown to confer susceptibility to SLE (odds ratio = 4.00, 95% confidence interval = 1.11–14.41). CD11b rs1143679 was found to be significantly associated with nephritis, but not with age of disease onset, arthritis, hematological involvement, or neural lesions. CONCLUSION: CD11b rs1143679 appears to be associated with risk for SLE in the Han Chinese population, and may play an important role in the development of lupus nephritis.