A Comparison of Genome-scans Performed in Multicase Families with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus from Different Population Groups

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a disease of unknown etiology. Multiple genetic factors are believed to be involved in its pathogenesis. In addition, and due to genetic heterogeneity, these factors and/or their combinations may be different in different ethnic groups, while some might be shared between populations. We have performed genome scans in multicase families from three different population groups, two from Northern Europe, with a high degree of homogeneity, and the third from a recently admixed population of Mexican Mestizos. Although our family material is relatively small, the results presented here show that using family sets from well defined populations are sufficient to detect susceptibility loci for SLE. Our results also reveal the chromosomal regions most likely to contain susceptibility genes for SLE.