ABSTRACT
Association of signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) gene rs7574865, rs10168266 polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) risk remains unclear. A meta-analysis was conducted on the correlation between rs7574865, rs10168266 polymorphisms and SLE. Twenty-six studies were recruited in our study (17,389 patients and 29,273 controls). For rs7574865, results showed significant associations between T allele and SLE susceptibility in overall population, Asians and Europeans (OR=1.557, 95%CI: 1.505-1.611, P<0.001; OR=1.557, 95%CI: 1.498-1.661, P<0.001; OR=1.548, 95%CI: 1.474-1.625, P<0.001). Significant associations of genotypes TT, GT, TT+TG and SLE risk were observed in general subjects, Asians and Europeans (all P<0.001). Regarding rs10168266, increased T allele frequencies were detected in overall SLE cases and those from Asian origin (OR=1.532, 95%CI: 1.440-1.631, P<0.001; OR=1.575, 95%CI: 1.445-1.717, P<0.001). The overall data showed that TT genotype, CT genotype and TT+CT genotype were significantly correlated with SLE (all P < 0.001). In conclusion, the present study verified strong association of STAT4 gene rs7574865, rs10168266 polymorphisms and SLE susceptibility.
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
Conflicts of Interest
There was no competing interests.