Variability of the rs333 in Polish patients with lupus erythematosus

Lupus erythematosus (LE) is an autoimmune disease with a strong influence of genetic and environmental factors. C-C motif chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) gene expression may affect the development and intensity of LE.

To evaluate the possible association between the 32bp deletion in rs333 locus located within the CCR5 gene and the development of LE or the occurrence of various clinical symptoms in the course of the disease.

One hundred and twenty patients with LE (77 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and 43 with discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE)) and 100 healthy controls from the Polish population were genotyped for deletion in rs333.

32 bp deletion in the rs333 was significantly more frequent among healthy individuals than DLE patients. Moreover, heterozygotes and homozygotes with deletion in rs333 were significantly more frequent within the control group than the group of patients with discoid lupus erythematosus. In contrast, any statistically significant differences in allele or genotype frequencies between healthy persons and SLE patients were observed. Furthermore, nucleotide sequence variability of rs333 was not associated with certain clinical symptoms of LE patients.

Deletion in the rs333 might be a protective factor for DLE, but not SLE in the Polish population. Nevertheless further studies performed on larger populations are needed to confirm these observations.