Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on June 22, 2004
Rheumatology 2004 43(9):1173-1177; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keh281
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rheumatology Vol. 43 No. 9 © British Society for Rheumatology 2004; all rights reserved
Paper |
VEGF gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis
Department of Internal Medicine, 1 Diagnostic Radiology and 2 Orthopedic Surgery, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea and 3 Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Correspondence to: Y. M. Kang, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Samduk 2-Ga, Junggu, Daegu, Republic of Korea. E-mail: ymkang{at}knu.ac.kr
Objectives. To investigate polymorphisms of the VEGF gene in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), their relationship to clinical features and the radiographic progression of joint disease.
Methods. One hundred and forty patients with RA and 149 healthy unrelated controls were recruited. We examined four polymorphisms of the VEGF gene which are reported to be associated with production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment length polymorphism assay and amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) PCR. Haplotypes were predicted by Bayesian algorithm using the Phase program.
Results. All four polymorphisms were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in both patients and controls. The frequency of the 936 T allele, which has been associated with lower production of VEGF, was significantly increased in RA patients compared with controls (22.7 vs 13.4%, P = 0.002). The frequencies of two haplotypes (CGCT and AAGT) which were predicted using the Phase program were significantly increased in RA patients compared with controls [33 vs 14%, odds ratio (OR) 2.636, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38–5.04 for CGCT; 17 vs 6%, OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.20–7.92 for AAGT]. The carriers of the susceptible haplotypes in RA patients had a younger age at disease onset but did not show a difference in the progression rate of radiographic joint destruction.
Conclusions. Our data suggest that the VEGF gene may play a role in the development of RA
KEY WORDS: Vascular endothelial growth factor, Rheumatoid arthritis, Polymorphism
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. Santora, C. Rasa, D. Visco, B. G. Steinetz, and C. A. Bagnell Antiarthritic Effects of Relaxin, in Combination with Estrogen, in Rat Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., August 1, 2007; 322(2): 887 - 893. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R Zhai, M N Gong, W Zhou, T B Thompson, P Kraft, L Su, and D C Christiani Genotypes and haplotypes of the VEGF gene are associated with higher mortality and lower VEGF plasma levels in patients with ARDS Thorax, August 1, 2007; 62(8): 718 - 722. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. C. Taylor Serum vascular markers and vascular imaging in assessment of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and response to therapy Rheumatology, June 1, 2005; 44(6): 721 - 728. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|