The purpose of this study was to determine whether a T cell receptor (TCR) polymorphism, either by itself or in combination with particular HLA polymorphism, leads to susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Eight restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) detected with TCR gene segments were investigated in 46 individuals with RA and were compared with data from normal control subjects.
A statistically significant difference in the genotype frequencies of a Taq I RFLP detected with the TCR alpha constant region (C alpha) gene was noted. In addition, when the DR4+ subpopulations were examined, the allelic frequency of a 2-kb Bam HI fragment detected with a V beta 8 gene was increased in the samples from RA patients (P less than 0.0086).
The results of this study suggest that germline differences in the TCR repertoire may be associated with RA, and that there is a contributory effect of DR4+ haplotypes with certain TCR haplotypes in susceptibility to RA.