cats/RA

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OK.....I'll send the article! :-) --Connie

A DGReview of :"Genetic susceptibility and the link between cat exposure and rheumatoid arthritis"Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism12/28/2000By Rose

Prior close exposure to cats in genetically susceptible subjects can lead to the development of rheumatoid arthritis, according to a recent report from Australia. Researchers in the rheumatology departments.of Hospitals in Adelaide and Melbourne designed a study to determine if the presence of HLA-DRB1 alleles bearing the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility motif influenced risk for the disease, following prior pet exposure.This study followed a previous case control study indicating the risk between pet exposure and RA development. This acknowledged the potential for pets to become reservoirs for microbial agents, capable of stimulating chronic inflammation, under immunogenetic influence, in susceptible subjects.Participants included all available patients with RA and their case controls who had formed part of the previous epidemiological study. All provided blood samples.Sequence analysis of oligonucleotides determined the DR and DQ genotypes, which were amplified by polymerase chain reactions from the DRB1 and DQB1 genes.Subjects were then segregated , according to previously determined pet exposure and genotype, for statistical analysis. The odds ratio (OR) for pre-pubertal exposure to cats and RA in available subjects irrespective of DRB1 genotype was 4.2. The OR between prior exposure to cats and RA in subjects carrying the RA susceptibility genotype DRB1 *0401 and *0404 was 5.8 and >24, respectively.There was no remarkable association seen between RA and pet exposure in patients who were selected according to other genotypes.There was a slightly stronger association between RA and the recognized HLA-DR susceptibility motif in subjects with a history of an intimate cat exposure, compared with subjects with no previous close contact. Researchers concluded that the findings suggested an interaction between an environmental agent associated with pet cats and certain RA susceptibility-conferring DR genotypes. The risk for RA associated with intimate cat exposure also was significant in subjects with DRB1 *1501. This is a genotype not otherwise associated with RA but shares with known RA susceptibility-bearing alleles, the presence of an electropositive pocket (Pocket 4) in the DR peptide binding groove."Genetic susceptibility and the link between cat exposure and rheumatoid arthritis"