Association of IL-23R (rs11209026 A/G) polymorphism with susceptibility to common autoimmune diseases: a meta-analysis combined with trial sequence analysis

Abstract Autoimmune disease is a condition in which the body responds to the autoantigens and causes damage to its own tissues. We conducted this research to investigate whether interleukin-23R (IL-23R) gene polymorphisms (rs11209026 A/G) are related to the risk of several common autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and psoriasis. We screened articles about rs11209026 A/G for autoimmune disease by China Knowledge Infrastructure Project (CNKI), Web of Science as well as PubMed databases. The correlation strength was expressed by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval, and the trial sequential analysis (TSA) proved the reliability of the results. Generally, 33 studies were contained. There was a significant correlation between rs11209026 A/G polymorphism and the susceptibility of human autoimmune diseases (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.65–0.94, p < 0.05). In addition, allele A was associated with AS (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.55–0.68, p < 0.05) and psoriasis (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.34–0.77, p < 0.05), but not RA (p > 0.05). In ethnic subgroup analysis, AA genotype could reduce the risk of AS in Caucasian people (OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.25–0.87, p < 0.05), and in the results of dominant gene model analysis, AA + GA has statistical significance in reducing the risk of autoimmune diseases (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.56–0.84, p < 0.05). Meta-analysis showed that IL-23R gene polymorphism (rs11209026 A/G) is associated with AS, RA and Psoriasis and allele A is a protective factor, especially in Caucasian population.