The Fcgamma receptor IIIA-158F allele is a major risk factor for the development of lupus nephritis among Caucasians but not non-Caucasians.

Objective: To determine whether inheritance of Fcgamma receptor (FcgammaR) alleles conferring lower affinity for IgG binding increases the risk of developing lupus nephritis.

Methods: We compared the frequency of low-affinity alleles of two FcgammaR polymorphisms (FcgammaRIIA and FcgammaRIIIA) among 235 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and proven nephritis (nephritis patients) and among 352 SLE patients with no evidence of renal disease (non-nephritis control subjects). The ethnic distribution of patients in the study was 49% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic, 17% Asian/Pacific Islander, 12% African American, and 2% from other ethnic groups.

A simple and accurate method for determination of microsatellite total allele content differences between DNA pools.

DNA pooling is a potential tool for the efficient analysis of the large numbers of samples and DNA markers that are necessary for genome-wide association studies. A simple accurate method for measuring total allele differences in comparisons between two pools containing large numbers of DNA samples is presented. This method compares relative peak height differences between electrophoretograms for each allele of a microsatellite.