We investigated whether killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes are risk factor(s) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its clinical manifestations. One hundred and seventy-seven RA patients and 243 healthy individuals were tested for the presence of 11 KIR genes using PCR-SSP method. The frequencies of KIRs in patients with RA were similar to the frequencies in controls. However, RA patients positive for KIR2DL3 and negative for KIR2DS3 had earlier disease diagnosis. Additionally, KIR2DL2 and KIR2DS2 were significantly more frequent among RA patients with extra-articular manifestations and in its subgroup with vasculitis than in controls and in patients without these complications. Furthermore, the frequencies of KIR2DS1 and KIR3DS1 were lower in patients without bone erosions compared with healthy individuals. Relationships between the presence or absence of autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide) and KIR frequencies were also evaluated, but no significant differences were observed. These results suggest that particular clinical manifestations of RA may have different genetic backgrounds with respect to KIR genotype.

中文翻译：

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杀伤细胞免疫球蛋白样受体基因与类风湿关节炎并发症的关系。

我们调查了杀伤细胞免疫球蛋白样受体（KIR）基因是否是类风湿关节炎（RA）及其临床表现的危险因素。使用PCR-SSP方法测试了177名RA患者和243名健康个体的11种KIR基因。RA患者的KIR频率与对照组的频率相似。但是，RA患者的KIR2DL3阳性和KIR2DS3阴性具有较早的疾病诊断。此外，在关节外表现的RA患者及其血管炎亚组中，KIR2DL2和KIR2DS2的发生率明显高于对照组和无这些并发症的患者。此外，与健康个体相比，无骨侵蚀的患者的KIR2DS1和KIR3DS1的频率更低。还评估了自身抗体（类风湿因子和抗环瓜氨酸肽）的存在与否与KIR频率之间的关系，但未观察到显着差异。这些结果表明，RA的特定临床表现在KIR基因型方面可能具有不同的遗传背景。