Genetic Susceptibility to Rheumatoid Arthritis in West African Patients: Correlation with Rheumatoid Factor, Anticitrullinated Protein Antibody and Radiological Damag

Abstract

Abstract Background: Rheumatoïd arthritis (RA) is characterized by a multifactorial aetiology and a complex genetic background, with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region playing a major role. Aim of the work: To detect the genetic susceptibility to RA in Benin population. Patients and Methods: A prospective case-control study was conducted from December 2015 to December 2016. The selected unrelated patients suffered from RA according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. We genotyped HLA-DRB1*01, HLADRB1*04 and HLA-B locus between 52 west african patients with RA and 48 unrelated controls to study the susceptibility of the genes to RA among Patients. Low-resolution genotyping for HLA B and HLADRB1 alleles was performed using Polymerase Chain Reaction and Sequence-Specific Primers (PCR-SSP). The data were analysed using epidata software. Results: Firty-two patients were recruited in the RA group and forty-eight in the control group. The mean age of the patients in the RA group was 44.6 ± 14.1 (15-69) and the sex ratio (male/female) was 0.14. The anticitrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) was present at 69.20 % of them. Among 3 genes studied, only HLADRB1*01 (OR=1.60, 95% CI=0.70–3.66) and HLADRB1*04 (OR=1.66, 95% CI=0.69–4.02) genes have shown a significant association with RA. There’s no association with RA and HLA-B genes. Conclusion: This work has allowed us to show the involvement of HLADRB1*01 and HLADRB1*04 genes in RA and know the immunogenetic profile of some RA West African patients.