Polymorphisms of T-cell immunoglobulin mucin Domain-1 Gene and its Association With rheumatoid arthritis

TIM-1, a member of the T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM) gene family was implicated as a Rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility gene in previous studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of the genotype and allele frequencies of the TIM-1polymorphisms in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis. PCR-RFLP (Polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism) & SSP-PCR (Single Specific Primer-Polymerase Chain Reaction) were used for investigating the presence of TIM-1 polymorphisms in 88 RA patients and 88 healthy controls. The genotype and allele frequency of TIM-1 polymorphisms were significantly different between the patient and controls. Significant association was observed between this polymorphisms and the risk of Rheumatoid arthritis. These results strongly suggest that 232A>G and -1637A>G polymorphism of the Tim-1 might be associated with susceptibility to RA.