A high copy number of FCGR3B is associated with psoriasis vulgaris in Han Chinese.

BACKGROUND

Copy number variations of FCGR3B are associated with several immune related diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and primary Sjögren's syndrome. Little is known about the association between FCGR3B copy number variants and psoriasis.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether FCGR3B copy number variants are associated with susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris in the Chinese Han population.

METHODS

343 psoriasis vulgaris patients and 574 healthy individuals were recruited as cases and controls. TaqMan® Copy Number Assays were performed to quantify the copy numbers in the FCGR3B locus. CopyCaller v1.0 software and R (version 2.15.3) were used to do the subsequent statistical analysis.

RESULTS

A significant association between psoriasis vulgaris and a high copy number (>2) of FCGR3B was observed (odds ratio = 1.63, 95% confidence interval 1.09-2.45, p < 0.02). However, the low copy number of FCGR3B was not significantly associated with psoriasis vulgaris.

CONCLUSION

A high copy number of FCGR3B is associated with psoriasis vulgaris in Han Chinese.