Abstract
Introduction: Palindromic rheumatism (PR) is an inflammatory rheumatic disease distinguishedby episodic, self-limiting flares of arthritis or periarthritis. It may progress over time to otherrheumatic diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis (RA). SLC22A4, located on chromosome 5,encodes an organic cation transporter (OCTN1) that mediates the transport of small moleculesacross cell membranes. Immune cells express OCTN1, which regulates oxidative stress, cellsurvival, and inflammatory signaling by transporting specific small molecules. This studyanalyzes the SLC22A4 gene polymorphisms in PR and RA patients compared to healthy controls(HCs).
Methods: We included 27 PR patients; 40 RA patients and 40 HCs matched for age and gender.All participants were Azeri. The SLC22A4 (rs3792876 and rs1050152) polymorphisms weregenotyped.
Results: No notable differences were detected between the PR and control groups in thedistribution of rs3792876 genotypes (CC, CT) and alleles (C, T). In addition, we examined thefrequencies of rs1050152 genotypes (CC, CT, TT) and alleles (C, T) between the studied groups.No significant differences were detected.
Conclusion: The similar distribution of genotypes and alleles across study groups indicates thatthese variants are unlikely to play a major role in susceptibility to PR or RA in the Azeri population.Future research should include larger sample sizes, additional candidate polymorphisms, andexploration of potential gene–gene and gene–environment interactions to more comprehensivelydefine the genetic landscape underlying PR and RA.