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Objective: Scleroderma is characterized by the presence of 3 predominant, yet almost mutually exclusive, antibodies: anticentromere antibody (ACA), antitopoisomerase antibody, and anti-RNA polymerase antibody. The purpose of this study was to investigate tumor necrosis factor (TNF) polymorphisms in scleroderma, with the specific aim of determining whether TNF polymorphisms would prove to be stronger markers for ACA than class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC)., Methods: We studied 214 UK white scleroderma patients and 354 healthy controls. All subjects were investigated for 5 TNF promoter region polymorphisms by sequence-specific polymerase chain reaction., Results: We showed that an NF-kappaB binding site polymorphism (known to be functionally relevant) in the TNF promoter region was present in 51.8% of patients with ACA and 16.3% of patients without ACA (chi(2) = 25.1, P = 0.000004 [corrected P = 0.00002]). Using haplotype mapping, we showed that this was a primary TNF association that could explain the previous weak links between ACA production and class II MHC alleles. In marked contrast to our ACA results, HLA class II (especially DRB1*11) appeared to be primary in that it could explain the weaker TNF association with antitopoisomerase production. Further, we observed a separate TNF haplotype to be associated with scleroderma per se, although the level of significance was much lower (chi(2) = 8.7, P = 0.003 [corrected P = 0.02])., Conclusion: We believe these findings may have importance both for the directional pathogenesis of scleroderma progression and for the treatment of scleroderma with anti-TNF agents.

Background: Proinflammatory cytokines are a major determinant in the inflammatory events leading to sarcoidosis. Genetic variations in the genes encoding these cytokines might contribute to sarcoidosis susceptibility, disease severity and outcome., Methods: In the present study we genotyped two clinically well-defined cohorts of Caucasian sarcoidosis patients from different European countries (each with their own controls) for the following polymorphisms using SSP-PCR: IL6 -174(G/C), IL6 intron 4(A/G) and IL1A-889(C/T). In total, 516 individuals were studied (147 UK + 102 Dutch patients, 101 UK + 166 Dutch controls). Disease severity data at presentation included chest radiographic stage, FVC, DL(CO), and extrapulmonary manifestations. Disease progression was evaluated on follow-up chest radiographs and sequential lung function measurements (2, 4 years)., Results: No differences in genotype, carriage and allele frequencies of the investigated polymorphisms were found in either of the populations. Analysis of genotype data in relation to disease severity data, however, showed a slightly increased carrier frequency of the rarer-174C allele in patients with Stage IV sarcoidosis (p = 0.03, Pc = 0.09). Pulmonary function progression analysis did not reveal significant associations., Conclusions: Although the investigated polymorphisms are unlikely to contribute to sarcoidosis susceptibility, the IL6-174C allele might have a role in the genetics underlying sarcoidosis severity or the progression towards pulmonary fibrosis in a particular subgroup.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQB1 is one of the intriguing candidate genes in sarcoidosis. We performed high resolution molecular HLA-DQB1 typing on two groups of white patients (British [UK] and Dutch [NL]) in order to investigate the relationship between 19 DQB1 alleles and disease severity and progression. A total of 803 individuals were studied (133 UK and 102 NL patients, and 354 UK and 214 NL control subjects). Disease severity data included extrapulmonary disease, chest X-ray stage, lung diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide, and FVC. Progression was evaluated on follow-up chest radiographs (2 and 4 yr). The results showed DQB1*0201 to be strongly protective against severe sarcoidosis in both populations; in other words, it localized to Stage I at all time points (P < 0.0001, P(corrected) (P(c)) = 0.002), whereas another DQB1 allele, *0602, tended to have opposite effects. Further, a clear association was found between the *0201 allele and Löfgren's syndrome (P < 0.0001, P(c) = 0.001). More importantly, carriage of this allele reduced the risk of disease progression. In contrast, the other common split of DQB1*02, *0202, did not affect disease severity but was mildly protective against sarcoidosis in the UK population (P = 0.02, p(c) not significant). In conclusion, this study shows that DQB1*0201 is a strong marker for mild sarcoidosis. Additional mapping across the DQB1*0201-DRB1*0301 haplotype, including specific alleles at genes such as DRB3, tumor necrosis factor, lymphotoxin-alpha, I-kappa-B-like protein, and B-associated transcript 1, is necessary for a final localization of the protective effect on this haplotype.