The preliminary association study of osteopontin 707 C/T polymorphism with systemic lupus erythematosus in a Polish...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease caused by genetic, environmental, and still unknown factors which lead to deregulation of the immune system. Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional glycoprotein, expressed in various cell types, and found to play key roles in immunity. OPN and variants of the OPN gene are involved in inflammatory conditions, however, their role in SLE are controversial.

To investigate the frequency of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1126616 (707 C/T) variants in the OPN gene and its associations with SLE manifestations in Polish patients.

The study population consisted of 83 SLE patients and 100 gender-, age- and ethnically matched healthy controls. DNA was extracted from whole blood samples using the standard procedure. Genotyping was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The association between clinical features of SLE and 707 C/T genotypes was determined.

The mutant (CT, TT) genotypes were observed more frequently than the wild-type (CC) genotype in SLE patients compared to controls (p = 0.037). However, no association between 707 C/T variants and SLE clinical manifestations or laboratory parameters was found.

The present data suggest that CT and TT genotypes of OPN 707 C/T SNP are associated with a higher SLE risk, but do not affect the clinical course of the disease in the Polish population.