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Rheumatology Advance Access published online on July 11, 2006
Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kel182
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received November 28, 2005
Accepted April 21, 2006

Concise Report

MERTK polymorphisms associated with risk of haematological disorders among Korean SLE patients

H. S. Cheong 1, S. O. Lee 1, C.-B. Choi 2, Y.-K. Sung 2, H. D. Shin 1, and S.-C. Bae 2 *

1 Department of Genetic Epidemiology, SNP Genetics, Inc., Rm 1407, 14th floor, B-dong, WooLim Lion's Valley, 371-28, Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-Gu, Seoul 153-803, Korea
2 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, the Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-792, Korea

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
S.-C. Bae, E-mail: scbae{at}hanyang.ac.kr


  Abstract

Objective. The MER receptor tyrosine kinase (MERTK) gene is critical for the efficient clearance of apoptotic cells and has implications for inflammation and autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We investigated the genetic polymorphisms in MERTK to evaluate it as a potential candidate gene for a host genetic study of SLE and clinical manifestations in patients with SLE.

Methods. By resequencing the coding and flanking regions of the MERTK gene in 24 unrelated Koreans, 37 polymorphisms were identified. Based on gene position, minor allele frequency and inter-single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) linkage disequilibrium, six of these polymorphisms were selected for subsequent genotyping and association analysis with the risk of SLE and haematological disorders in 350 Korean SLE patients and 330 controls.

Results. Although no significant associations with the risk of SLE were found, logistic regression analyses revealed that variants +465C > G (P = 0.05) and +130215insdelT (P = 0.0005) were significantly associated with decreased risk of leucopenia in SLE patients. Further, +465C > G, +95616G > A, +123157A > G and the haplotype ht1 also showed significant associations (P = 0.006-0.05) with a decreased risk of lymphopenia in SLE patients.

Conclusion. Our findings suggest that polymorphisms in MERTK might be one of the genetic risk factors for presenting leucopenia and lymphopenia in SLE patients.

Keywords: MERTK; SLE; Haematological disorder; Leucopenia; Polymorphism.
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