Association between miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism and autoimmune diseases susceptibility: A meta-analysis

• We performed a meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship.
• It is the first meta-analysis on miR-146a G/C SNP and autoimmune diseases.
• No association was observed between miR-146a G/C SNP and autoimmune diseases risk.

Published data on the rs2910164 in microRNA-146a (miR-146a) are shown to be associated with increased or decreased autoimmune diseases risk. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, we performed a meta-analysis to systematically summarize the possible. A meta-analysis including 11 studies with 3042 controls and 2197 cases was performed for genotypes CC (recessive effect), CC + CG (dominant effect) and C allele in fixed or random-effects models based on between-study heterogeneity. Overall, no significant association between miR-146a G/C rs2910164 polymorphism and autoimmune diseases risk was found in all genetic models when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis. SLE (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.90–1.10), RA (OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.85–1.14) did not yield statistical significance as for C allele pooled studies. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, still no significant association was detected in all genetic models. Our meta-analysis suggests that there is no association between miR-146a G/C rs2910164 polymorphism and the development of autoimmune diseases.