Absence of association of FCGR2A gene polymorphism rs1801274 with Kawasaki disease in Greek patients.

Abstract

Kawasaki disease is an acute, febrile syndrome in infancy, characterised by vasculitis of medium-sized arteries, and affects predominantly young children. Family-based studies on Kawasaki disease supports the contribution of genetic factors in disorder manifestation. In a recent genome-wide association study, the polymorphism rs1801274 of FCGR2A [Fc fragment of immunoglobulin G, low-affinity IIa, receptor] gene has been implicated in disease pathogenesis. The aim of the present study was to explore the association of this variant, for the first time, in a group of Kawasaki-diseased patients of Greek origin. A total of 47 Kawasaki-diseased children and 50 control subjects were enrolled in the study. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay was performed in rs1801274 genotyping. No association was observed between this polymorphism genotypes' or alleles' distribution between Kawasaki-diseased patients and controls. Furthermore, no association was revealed between this polymorphism and cardiovascular complications in Kawasaki-diseased patients. In the literature, the reported data over this polymorphism association with Kawasaki disease in Caucasian patients are contradictory. In addition, the disease shows low prevalence in the Caucasian populations. Therefore, the independent genetic association studies on rs1801274 with Kawasaki disease in various Caucasian groups increase the amount of genetic data, which could be used in a future meta-analysis, increasing the statistical power of the resultant conclusions.