Background
Several genome‐wide association studies have revealed a genetic background with respect to susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although several individual case–control studies have evaluated the role of protein tyrosine phosphatase non‐receptor 22 (PTPN22) gene rs2476601 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in conferring a risk for RA, the results have been conflicting. Hence, this meta‐analysis was aimed to provide a solution for this issue.
Methods
To search for studies assessing the association between the PTPN22 gene rs2476601 SNP and the risk of RA, a systematic search was conducted in the main databases, including PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, prior to December 2019. The odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to assess the possibility of association risk.
Results
The literature search identified 52 case–control studies. The pooled analysis detected significant positive association of rs2476601 in all genetic models, including dominant model (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.55–1.84, P < 0.001), recessive model (OR = 2.50, 95% CI = 2.06–3.05, P < 0.001), allelic model (OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.60–2.2, P < 0.001), TT versus CC model (OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 2.28–3.41, P < 0.001) and CT versus CC model (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.50–1.67, P < 0.001). Analyses based on population stratification indicated that rs2476601 SNP strongly increased the risk of RA in Caucasians and Africans under all genotype models.
Conclusions
This meta‐analysis reports that the PTPN22 gene rs2476601 SNP increases RA risk, especially in Caucasians and Africans.