Effects of Amerindian Genetic Ancestry on Clinical Variables and Therapy in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective. To define whether Amerindian genetic ancestry correlates with clinical and therapeutic variables in admixed individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from Latin America. Methods. Patients with RA (n = 1347) and healthy controls (n = 1012) from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Peru were included. Samples were genotyped for the Immunochip v1 using the Illumina platform. Clinical data were obtained through interviews or the clinical history. Results. Percentage of Amerindian ancestry was comparable between cases and controls. Morning stiffness (p Bonferroni Bonferroni = 0.001, OR 0.37). Only the presence of RF and weight loss were modified after confounders adjustment. Conclusion. Amerindian ancestry protects against most major clinical criteria of RA, but regarding the association of RF with increased European ancestry, age, sex, and smoking are modifiers. Ancestry also correlates with the therapeutic profiles.