No evidence for association of the KLF12 gene with rheumatoid arthritis in a large UK cohort

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have heralded a major breakthrough in the search for genes underlying rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Indeed, GWAS in UK, US and Swedish populations have identified a number of confirmed RA loci.1 Recently, a modestly-sized GWAS was undertaken in a Spanish population comprising 400 patients with RA and 400 controls.2 Association with the KLF12 gene was detected (p=6.5×10−6) and subsequently replicated in an independent cohort of 410 Spanish patients with RA and 394 controls (p=0.01). The most strongly associated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was rs1324913 mapping to intron 1 of the KLF12 gene. The KLF12 protein is a repressor for a transcriptional regulatory factor, AP-2α, which has been implicated in the control of inflammation. Other SNPs at this locus also showed weak evidence for association with RA in UK …