TAP-polymorphisms in juvenile onset psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis

Juvenile onset psoriasis is strongly associated with the HLA-class I genes Cw6 and B57 whereas patients with psoriatic arthritis show an increased frequency of HLA-B27. It is unclear whether additional major histocompatibility genes also increase disease susceptibility. The TAP genes (transporter associated with antigen processing) encode two membrane-spanning proteins that translocate antigenic peptides from the cytoplasm into the endoplasmic reticulum. Comparison of 60 patients with juvenile onset psoriasis, 63 psoriatic arthritis patients, and 101 caucasoid controls revealed an increase of the TAP1*0101 allele in the psoriasis group, that could not be explained by linkage to other investigated HLA genes. There were no differences for TAP2 alleles.