Childs’s genes – inherited from father – could affect mother’s risk of rheumatoid arthritis
A child’s genetic makeup may contribute to its mother’s risk of rheumatoid arthritis, which could explain why women are at higher risk of developing the disease than men, says research due to be presented at the American Society of Human Genetics 2014 Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Women are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than men, and rates peak in women in their forties and fifties.
Certain versions of the immune system gene HLA-DRB1 are associated with rheumatoid arthritis. HLA genes are best known for their involvement in the immune system’s response to infection and in transplant medicine for differentiating between one’s own cells and those that are foreign.
A team from the University of California analysed the genes of women with and without the shared epitope or other forms of HLA genes associated with risk of rheumatoid arthritis, and their children. They found that having children with these high-risk alleles – inherited from the children’s father – increased the women’s risk of rheumatoid arthritis, even after accounting for differences among the mothers’ genes. These results showed that beyond a woman’s own genetic risk of rheumatoid arthritis, there is additional risk conferred by carrying and bearing children with certain high-risk alleles.
It seems, therefore, that a woman’s immune system may detect proteins produced by the foetus and mistakenly tag lingering foetal cells as a threat, causing an immune reaction and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
The findings may lead to new ways of assessing a woman’s risk of disease depending on whether her children or partner carries high-risk versions of genes.
Click here to read the original research.
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Image credit: Sascha Kohlmann
