Analysis of Systemic Sclerosis-associated Genes in a Turkish Population

Objective. To evaluate the genetic background of systemic sclerosis (SSc) in the Turkish population. Methods. There were 354 cases and 718 unaffected controls from Turkey genotyped for the most relevant SSc genetic markers ( IRF5 -rs10488631, STAT4 -rs3821236, CD247 -rs2056626, DNASE1L3 -rs35677470, IL12A -rs77583790, and ATG5 -rs9373839). Association tests were conducted to identify possible associations. Results. Except for ATG5 , all the analyzed genes showed either significant associations ( IRF5 : p = 1.32E–05, OR 1.76; CD247 : p = 2.20E–03, OR 0.75) or trends of association ( STAT4 : p = 0.066, OR 1.21; IL12A : p = 0.079, OR 4.07; DNASE1L3 : p = 0.097, OR 1.41) with the overall disease or with specific phenotypes. Conclusion. The genetic component of SSc seems to be similar between Turks and Europeans.