A comparison of genome-scans performed in multicase families with systemiclupus erythematosus from different population groups

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a disease of unknown etiology. Multiple gen etic factors are believed to be involved in its pathogenesis. Ln addition, and due to genetic heterogeneity, these factors and/or their combinations m ay be different in different ethnic groups, while some might be shared betw een populations. We have performed genome scans in multicase families from three different population groups, two from Northern Europe, with a high de gree of homogeneity, and the third from a recently admired population of Me xican Mestizos. Although our family material is relatively small, the resul ts presented here show that using family sets from well defined populations are sufficient to detect susceptibility loci for SLE. Our results also rev eal the chromosomal regions most Likely to contain susceptibility genes for SLE. (C) 1999 Academic Press.