The CTLA-4 and MCP-1 polymorphisms and susceptibility to systemic sclerosis: A meta-analysis

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore whether cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) polymorphisms confer susceptibility to systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods: MEDLINE and manual search were utilized to identify available articles. A meta-analysis was conducted on the associations between the CTLA-4 +49 A/G,-318 C/T,-1661 A/G, and-1722 C/T, and MCP-1-2518 A/G polymorphisms, using a fixed-effect or random-effect model based on between-study heterogeneity. Results: Eleven comparative studies involving 959 SSc patients and 1739 controls were included in the meta-analysis. No association was found between SSc and the CTLA-4 +49 A/G polymorphism (OR for the +49 G allele=1.032, 95% CI=0.830-1.283, p=0.779). However, an association between SSc and the CTLA-4-318 TT+TC genotype (OR=1.642, 95% CI=1.034-2.609, p=0.036). Meta-analyses failed to reveal an association between SSc and CTLA-4-1722 C/T, MCP-1-2518 A/G polymorphisms. Conclusions: This meta-analysis of published data shows that the CTLA-4-318 C/T polymorphism confers susceptibility to SSc.