Lack of association of functional CTLA4 polymorphisms with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Objectives Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is an autoimmune disorder mediated by Th1-immune responses. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA4), expressed on the T-cell surface, plays a negative role in regulating T-cell activation. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CTLA4 have been implicated in susceptibility to several autoimmune disorders, including JIA. Our objective was to test three functional CTLA4 variants for association with JIA.