Genetic variation at the CCR5/CCR2 gene cluster and risk of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

OBJECTIVES

Inflammation plays a major role in psoriasis (Ps). The variation at several genes that encode components of the inflammatory pathways have been linked to the risk for Ps. Our objective was to examine the association between Ps and three polymorphisms at the chemokine receptors CCR5 and CCR2.

METHODS

A total of 382 Ps patients and 500 healthy controls from Spain were genotyped for the CCR5-32bp deletion (DeltaCCR5), the rs1799988 (CCR5 promoter), and the CCR2-I64V (rs1799864) polymorphisms.

RESULTS

Allele and genotype frequencies did not differ between patients and controls for any of the three polymorphisms. However, the frequency of the CCR2-64I carriers was significantly higher in the patients who developed arthritis (n=81) compared to patients without arthritis (p=0.0007).

CONCLUSIONS

Our work suggests that the genetic variation at the CCR2/CCR5 genes did not contribute to the risk for Ps, but CCR2 polymorphisms could modulate the risk for arthritis in patients with psoriasis.