Genotyping of relapsing polychondritis identified novel susceptibility HLA alleles and distinct genetic characteristics from other rheumatic diseases

To uncover the genetic background of relapsing polychondritis (RPC), a rare autoimmune disease with unknown mechanisms characterized by systemic inflammation of the cartilage, to deepen our understanding of the pathophysiology of RPC and show its distinct genetic characteristics from other rheumatic diseases.A total of 102 patients with RPC and 1000 healthy subjects were recruited for a two-staged genetic association study and genotyped for six...