ANALYSIS OF LMP AND TAP POLYMORPHISMS BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISM IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

Objective-The aim of this study was to investigate the relation betwee n the polymorphism of large molecular weight proteasome (LMP) (LMP2-LM P7) and transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) (TAP1-TAP 2) genes and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods-Sixty RA patients and 102 ethnically matched unrelated healthy subjects were typed for LMP, TAP, and disease associated HLA-DRB1 alleles by using a new strategy b ased on polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorp hism (PCR-RFLP) with amplification created restriction sites. Results- The polymorphism of LMP (LMP2-LMP7) and TAP (TAP1-TAP2) genes was exam ined in shared epitope positive and negative RA patients and controls. No significant differences in the LMP or TAP allele frequencies were observed between the total patient and control groups or the patients and controls positive or negative for the shared epitope. Conclusion-T he data suggest that the polymorphisms of LMP and TAP genes do not hav e an important influence in the pathogenesis of RA, although larger st udies will be needed to provide more conclusive evidence on the role o f these genes in RA. A new, highly reliable strategy for typing LMP al leles is also described.