Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease and strongly associated with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B∗51 and -A∗26. We examined whether other genetic factors may exist in HLA region by 135 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 384 pairs of Japanese BD patients and controls. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified two novel susceptibility SNPs: rs9261365 near a ring finger protein (RNF) 39 and rs2074474 on exon 9 of tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) 39 independently of HLA-B∗51 and -A∗26 alleles. Our findings suggest that RNF39 and TRIM39 are involved in the etiology of BD.
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