SAT0105 Preliminary analysis of genetic variants in the immune system related to the body mass index in early arthritis patients

Background We have observed in previous analyzes in our early arthritis (EA) cohort that patients with a higher body mass index (BMI) are, more frequently, ACPA negative and these patients carry, with a lower frequency, HLADRB1 alleles that encode for the shared epitope. Objectives To identify SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) of immune system genes related to BMI in EA patients. Methods The 257 patients of the PEARL (Princess Early Arthritis Register Longitudinal) cohort in which high density genotyping was available (using the Immunochip array of Ilumina Inc) were included. As a previous step, those SNPs that did not meet the requirements of a genotyping call rate lower than 98%, being out of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p Results Table 1 shows the selection of the 15 SNPs that were more important in both "machine learning" techniques according to BMI. Although most of these SNPs are located in non-coding regions (intergenic or intronic), some of the genes where the SNPs belong or the neighboring genes have shown association in some GWAS (Genome-Wide Association) with a minor (BMP7) or a greater (RSPO3) BMI; and some of them have shown to have a regulatory role in the immune system in patients with RA (WDFY4, BMP7). Conclusions Our preliminary approach allowed us to select 15 SNPs that may have more relevance related to BMI in patients with early arthritis. However, this is a preliminary study and it is necessary to validate these results in other populations to ensure their involvement in the relationship between the BMI and EA. Disclosure of Interest: None declared