Functional polymorphisms in <i>pre-miR146a</i> and <i>pre-miR499</i> are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus but not with rheumatoid arthritis or Graves’ disease in Mexican patients

Abstract

Recently, different microRNA (miRNA) gene polymorphisms have been evaluated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and Graves' disease (GD). In the present study, we examined three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the <i>pre-miR-146a</i> (rs2910164G/C), <i>pre-miR-196a-2</i> (rs11614913C/T), and <i>pre-miR-499</i> (rs3746444A/G) genes. Our study population included 900 Mexican patients with RA, SLE, or GD, as well as 486 healthy control individuals with no family history of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan probes and a 5' exonuclease assay. None of the investigated SNPs were associated with RA or GD susceptibility under any genetic model (co-dominant, recessive, or dominant). Genotype and allele frequencies of the <i>miR-196a-2</i> rs11614913C/T polymorphism were similar between SLE cases and controls. In contrast, the <i>miR-146a</i> rs2910164G/C and <i>miR-499</i> rs3746444A/G polymorphisms were associated with SLE susceptibility. These SNPs were not associated with lupus nephritis (LN). Our results suggest that polymorphisms in <i>miR-146a, miR-196a-2</i>, and <i>miR-499</i> are not associated with RA or GD susceptibility. This is the first report documenting that the <i>miR-146a</i> rs2910164G/C and <i>miR-499</i> rs3746444 polymorphisms are associated with SLE susceptibility but not with LN.