The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of eligible studies to derive precise estimation of the associations of lymphotoxin alpha (LTA) 252 A>G polymorphism (rs909253) with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk.
Data were collected from the following electronic databases, including EMBASE, PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). A total of 19 studies (13 studies involving 1346 SLE patients and 1951 controls, six studies involving 1079 RA patients and 1057 controls) were included.
This meta-analysis showed no evidence of significant association of the A allele with SLE susceptibility (odds ratio [OR] 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98-1.62, P = 0.073), but it showed a weaker association under an additive model (OR 1.63, 95%CI 1.01-2.65, P = 0.047). Stratification by ethnicity indicated that the variant A allele carriers increased the risk of SLE in Asians (OR 1.91, 95%CI 1.44-2.53, P < 0.001). However, we failed to reveal any association between LTA gene 252 A>G polymorphism and RA risk under all models (for A vs. G: OR 1.02, 95%CI 0.79-1.33, P = 0.853; for AA + AG vs. GG: OR 0.86, 95%CI 0.52-1.41, P = 0.542; for AA vs. AG + GG: OR 1.19, 95%CI 0.80-1.78, P = 0.394, for AA vs. GG: OR 1.03, 95%CI 0.58-1.84, P = 0.919). Similar results were obtained in the subgroup analysis based on ethnicity.
The present study suggests that LTA 252 A>G polymorphism is associated with SLE susceptibility in Asians, and there is no significant association between LTA 252 A>G polymorphism and RA.