Association and expression study of PRKCH gene in a French Caucasian population with rheumatoid arthritis.

We study the association between three protein kinase C, eta gene polymorphisms (+8134C/T, rs912620, rs959728), and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. One hundred French Caucasian rheumatoid arthritis trio families were genotyped. Relative quantification of protein kinase C, eta mRNA expression was performed from whole blood in 24 unrelated rheumatoid arthritis patients and in 16 healthy controls. Our results showed no significant association or linkage between the protein kinase C, eta polymorphisms, and rheumatoid arthritis. The protein kinase C, eta mRNA was expressed at lower level in rheumatoid arthritis unrelated patients than in healthy controls. This study shows that protein kinase C, eta gene is not a Rheumatoid Arthritis major susceptibility genetic factor in the French Caucasian population. Furthermore, the lower expression of this gene in rheumatoid arthritis patients comparing to healthy controls suggests that protein kinase C, eta could be associated with the patho-physiologic mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis.