THE ROLE OF T-CELL RECEPTOR-BETA CHAIN GENES IN SUSCEPTIBILITY TO RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

Objective. To evaluate the role of the T cell receptor beta chain locu s (TCRB) in genetic susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Metho ds. Twenty-eight multiplex RA families were recruited from 3 rheumatol ogy outpatient departments. All members were genotyped for a highly in formative microsatellite (V(beta)6.7), a V(beta)12.2 SSCP marker, and a biallelic C-beta restriction fragment length polymorphism. Data were analyzed by the SIBPAL program to assess identity-by-descent in affec ted sib-pairs. Results. Using the V(beta)12.2 marker, there was sugges tive evidence of increased sib-pair sharing (P = 0.005) in affected of fspring (a P value of 0.001 is generally taken to establish linkage). Data for V(beta)6.7 and C-beta yielded significance levels of 0.06 and 0.19, respectively. Conclusion. These data suggest that a gene in or linked to the TCRB complex may confer genetic susceptibility to RA in these families. Confirmation in a larger panel of families is required .