Associations between TNFAIP3 gene polymorphisms and systemic lupus erythematosus risk: an updated meta-analysis.

In order to determine whether tumor necrosis factor alpha inducible protein 3 (TNFAIP3) gene polymorphisms confers susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in ethnically different populations. A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the association between TNFAIP3 polymorphisms and susceptibility to SLE. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify all relevant studies. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the strength of the association. A total of 23 studies from 20 articles, involving 18,501 patients with SLE and 30,435 healthy controls were included in this meta-analysis. Overall, we found significant association between SLE and the TNFAIP3 rs2230926, rs5029937, rs5029939, and rs3757173 polymorphisms (all P < 0.001). Stratification by ethnicity indicated that rs5029939 polymorphism was associated with SLE in Europeans, while rs2230926, rs5029937, and rs3757173 polymorphisms were associated with SLE both in Europeans and Asians (all P < 0.001). The results of our meta-analysis suggest that TNFAIP3 (rs2230926, rs5029937, rs5029939, and rs3757173) polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to SLE.