| Abstract
| - Objectives. To develop a robust assay for genotyping the FcγRIIIA-158V/F polymorphism and to confirm the putative association between the FcγRIIIA-158V allele and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. This allelic association study examined the FcγRIIIA-158V/F polymorphism for association with RA. A novel single-stranded conformational polymorphism assay was used to genotype 828 RA patients and 581 controls from the UK. Results. The FcγRIIIA-158V allele was associated with both RA (P=0.02) and nodules (P=0.04). Individuals homozygous for this higher affinity allele had a significantly increased risk of RA (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.08-2.18) and the development of nodules (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.20-4.01). There was no evidence of an interaction with the shared epitope. Conclusions. We have developed a novel assay to genotype the FcγRIIIA-158F/V polymorphism and confirmed that homozygosity for the FcγRIIIA-158V allele is associated with UK Caucasian RA, particularly in those individuals with nodules, suggesting FcγRIIIA may play a role in determining disease severity or in the development of nodules per se.
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