IL2/IL21 region polymorphism influences response to rituximab in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

To determine whether the IL2/IL21 region, a general autoimmunity locus, contributes to the observed variation in response to rituximab in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus as well as to analyze its influence in a cohort including other autoimmune diseases. rs6822844 G/T polymorphism at the IL2–IL21 region was analyzed by TaqMan assay in 84 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and 60 different systemic autoimmune diseases Spanish patients receiving rituximab. Six months after the first infusion patients were classified, according to the EULAR criteria, as good responders, partial responders and non-responders. A statistically significant difference was observed in GG genotype frequency between responder (total and partial response) (83.56 %) and non-responder (45.45 %) SLE patients (p = 0.010, odds ratio (OR) = 6.10 1.28–29.06]). No association with the response was evident in the group of patients with autoimmune diseases other than lupus. Furthermore, when both groups of patients were pooled in a meta-analysis, a reduced statistical significance of the association was observed (p = 0.024, OR = 3.53 1.06–11.64]). Our results show for a first time that IL2–IL21 region seems to play a role in the response to rituximab in SLE patients but not in other autoimmune diseases.