Apoptosis signals are necessary for maintaining homeostasis and an adequate immune response. Dysregulation of apoptosis-related genes in the immune system has an important impact on autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thus, we investigated the association between Fas rs2234767 G/A, FasL rs763110 C/T, Bcl2 rs12454712 T/C, Bcl2 rs17757541 C/G, and Caspase-8 rs1035142 G/T polymorphisms and RA susceptibility in a Chinese population. These five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were studied in a Chinese population consisting of 615 patients with RA and 839 controls. Genotyping was performed using a custom-by-design 48-Plex SNP scan TM kit. Furthermore, we undertook a meta-analysis between FasL rs763110 C/T and RA. This study indicated that Fas rs2234767 and Bcl2 rs17757541 polymorphisms were risk factors for RA. No association was observed between FasL rs763110 C/T, Bcl2 rs12454712 T/C, and Caspase-8 rs1035142 G/T polymorphisms and RA in this study. The results of this meta-analysis suggested no significant association between FasL rs763110 C/T and RA. However, stratification analysis of this meta-analysis indicated that FasL rs763110 C/T increased the risk of Caucasian RA patients. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that Fas rs2234767 G/A and Bcl2 rs17757541 T/C polymorphisms might be associated with an increased risk of RA. This meta-analysis revealed that FasL rs763110 C/T was associated with an increased risk of Caucasian RA patients.
Keywords: B cell lymphoma 2; Caspase-8; Fas/FasL; Rheumatoid arthritis; Single-nucleotide polymorphism.