A gene–environment interaction between smoking and shared epitope genes in HLA–DR provides a high risk of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective The main genetic risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the shared epitope (SE) of HLA–DR, while smoking is an important environmental risk factor. We studied a potential gene–environment interaction between SE genes and smoking in the etiology of the 2 major subgroups of RA: rheumatoid factor (RF)–seropositive and RF-seronegative disease. Methods A population-based case–control study involving incident cases of RF-seropositive and RF-seronegative RA (858 cases and 1,048 controls) was performed in Sweden. Cases and controls were classified according to their cigarette smoking status and HLA–DRB1 genotypes. The relative risk of developing RA was calculated for different gene/smoking combinations and was compared with the relative risk in never smokers without SE genes. Results The relative risk of RF-seropositive RA was 2.8 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.6–4.8) in never smokers with SE genes, 2.4 (95% CI 1.3–4.6) in current smokers without SE genes, and 7.5 (95% CI 4.2–13.1) in current smokers with SE genes. Smokers carrying double SE genes displayed a relative risk of RF-seropositive RA of 15.7 (95% CI 7.2–34.2). The interaction between smoking and SE genes was significant, as measured by the attributable proportion due to interaction, which was 0.4 (95% CI 0.2–0.7) for smoking and any SE, and 0.6 (95% CI 0.4–0.9) for smoking and a double SE. Neither smoking nor SE genes nor the combination of these factors increased the risk of developing RF-seronegative RA. Conclusion The disease risk of RF-seropositive RA associated with one of the classic genetic risk factors for immune-mediated diseases (the SE of HLA–DR) is strongly influenced by the presence of an environmental factor (smoking) in the population at risk.