ORIGINAL PAPER Dong Qing Ye Æ Yi Song Hu Æ Xiang Pei Li Shi Gui Yang Æ Jia Hu Hao Æ Fen Huang Xue Jun Zhang The correlation between monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and the arthritis of systemic lupus erythematosus among Chinese Received: 18 July 2004 / Revised: 2 November 2004 / Accepted: 11 November 2004 / Published online: 21 December 2004 Ó Springer-Verlag 2004 Abstract Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP1) polymorphism has been reported to be associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the correlation between the polymorphism and SLE is poorly understood. In this study we investigated the role of this polymorphism together with that of chemokine SDF1-3¢A and chemokine receptor CCR2-V64I. The association between gene polymorphism and SLE was explored by way of a case-control study. In 143 patients with SLE and 157 healthy controls, the polymorphisms of SDF1-3¢A, À2518MCP-1 and CCR2-V64I were determined using PCR-RFLP and an amplification- refractory mutation system, respectively. No significant difference was found in allelic and genotype frequency of SDF1-3¢A, CCR2-V64I and À2518MCP-1 between SLE patients and controls. However, a significant increase in the frequency of the AG genotype of MCP-1 was found among patients with arthritis (P c =0.003, OR 3.08, 95%CI 1.27–7.57). The frequency of individuals having G at position À2518 of the MCP-1 gene was also in- creased among patients with arthritis (P c =0.028, OR 2.99, 95%CI 1.13–8.08). It is noteworthy that the fre- quency of À2518MCP-1G in the Chinese Han popula- tion was 64%. The results indicate an association between the presence of G at position À2518 in the MCP-1 promoter region and the presence of arthritis in patients with SLE. Keywords Polymorphism Æ Chemokines Æ Systemic lupus erythematosus Introduction Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multiorgan disorder characterized by immune dysregulation, which results in autoantibody production, activation of the complement system and immune complex generation and deposition. These stimuli cause an inflammatory response leading to tissue damage [1] in which infil- trating leukocytes may play a crucial role [2]. The migration of leukocytes through vessels and tissues is dependent in part on chemokines, and secretion of chemokines has been detected in a wide variety of diseases causing the accumulation and activation of leukocytes in tissues and which also act as mediators in inflammation. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a b-chemokine that is thought to be responsible for monocyte and T lymphocytes recruit- ment in acute inflammation conditions and may be an important mediator in chronic inflammation. In fact, it was found that there are significant differences between patients with SLE and healthy controls in serum and urine levels of MCP-1. An increase of MCP-1 has been observed with progression of disease activity [3, 4]. Recently a biallelic A/G polymorphism in the MCP-1 distal gene regulatory region at position À2518 (num- bers indicate nucleotide positions relative to the major transcription start sites) has been found that affects the level of MCP-1 expression in response to an inflam- matory stimulus [5]. Monocytes from individuals car- rying a G allele at À2518 produce more MCP-1 after treatment with IL-1b than monocytes from A/A homozygous subjects. Also, previous data suggest that MCP-1 promoter À2518 polymorphism is involved in the pathogenesis of asthma [6] and coronary artery diseases [7]. D. Q. Ye (&) Æ Y. S. Hu Æ S. G. Yang Æ J. H. Hao Æ F. Huang Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Anhui Medical University, 69 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, People’s Republic of China E-mail: cjdcp@mail.hf.ah.cn Tel.: +86-551-5161171 X. P. Li Department of Rheumatology, Anhui Provincial Hospital, People’s Republic of China X. J. Zhang Institute of Dermatology, Anhui Medical University, People’s Republic of China Arch Dermatol Res (2005) 296: 366–371 DOI 10.1007/s00403-004-0531-y