European population substructure is associated with mucocutaneous manifestations and autoantibody production in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

This study demonstrates that specific SLE manifestations vary according to Northern versus Southern European ancestry. Thus, genetic ancestry may contribute to the clinical heterogeneity and variation in disease outcomes among SLE patients of European descent. Moreover, these results suggest that genetic studies of SLE subphenotypes will need to carefully address issues of population substructure based on genetic ancestry.