{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T12:15:57Z","timestamp":1767874557741,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767744000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Primary Sj\u00f6gren\u2019s syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation and damage to salivary and lacrimal glands. Its etiology involves both genetic and environmental factors. Among susceptibility genes, IRF5 has been highlighted in European populations, but evidence in non-European groups remains limited. This study evaluated whether IRF5 variants rs2004640G\/T, rs2070197T\/C, rs10954213G\/A, and rs59110799G\/T are associated with pSS susceptibility, clinical manifestations, or the presence of autoantibodies in a Mexican population. The diagnosis was confirmed by rheumatologists using the 2016 ACR\u2013EULAR classification criteria for pSS. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan probes in 231 controls and 132 pSS patients from central Mexico. Associations were analyzed through binary logistic regression under different genetic models, adjusting for age and geographic origin. Clinical correlations were examined with SNPStats, and haplotypes were constructed using Haploview. Results showed that all four IRF5 variants were significantly associated with pSS susceptibility. Moreover, rs2004640, rs2070197, and rs10954213 variants were associated with arthritis, a frequent clinical manifestation in pSS patients. This represents the first evidence in a Latin American population demonstrating that IRF5 variants contribute to increased risk of developing pSS. These findings suggest ethnicity-specific genetic influences and highlight the importance of expanding research beyond European cohorts. Replication in larger samples and functional analyses are needed to confirm these associations and clarify their biological relevance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27020599","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T09:34:12Z","timestamp":1767778452000},"page":"599","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Variants in IRF5 Increase the Risk of Primary Sj\u00f6gren\u2019s Syndrome in the Mexican Population"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4153-9315","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julian","family":"Ram\u00edrez-Bello","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Subdirecci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n Cl\u00ednica, Instituto Nacional de Cardiolog\u00eda Ignacio Ch\u00e1vez, M\u00e9xico City 14080, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9334-4707","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isaac Alberto","family":"L\u00f3pez-Brice\u00f1o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Hematolog\u00eda, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales \u201cDr. Hideyo Noguchi\u201d, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Yucat\u00e1n, M\u00e9rida 97069, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6633-130X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guillermo","family":"Valencia-Pacheco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Hematolog\u00eda, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales \u201cDr. Hideyo Noguchi\u201d, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Yucat\u00e1n, M\u00e9rida 97069, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2191-7427","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rosa Elda","family":"Barbosa-Cobos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Servicio de Reumatolog\u00eda, Hospital Ju\u00e1rez de M\u00e9xico, M\u00e9xico City 07760, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7958-0391","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriela","family":"Hern\u00e1ndez-Molina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Inmunolog\u00eda y Reumatolog\u00eda, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias M\u00e9dicas y Nutrici\u00f3n Salvador Zurbir\u00e1n, M\u00e9xico City 14080, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6590-9712","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvia","family":"Jim\u00e9nez-Morales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Innovaci\u00f3n y Medicina de Precisi\u00f3n, N\u00facleo \u201cA\u201d, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Gen\u00f3mica, M\u00e9xico City 14610, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1219-0975","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iv\u00e1n Sammir","family":"Aranda-Uribe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Biolog\u00eda Celular y Molecular, Departamento de Ciencias Farmac\u00e9uticas, Divisi\u00f3n de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Quintana Roo, Chetumal 77019, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1141-452X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isela","family":"Mont\u00fafar-Robles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Divisi\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Hospital Ju\u00e1rez de M\u00e9xico, M\u00e9xico City 07760, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6013-9328","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Swapan K.","family":"Nath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"321","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(05)66990-5","article-title":"Sj\u00f6gren\u2019s Syndrome","volume":"366","author":"Fox","year":"2005","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaut.2012.01.002","article-title":"Pathogenesis of Sj\u00f6gren\u2019s Syndrome: What We Know and What We Should Learn","volume":"39","author":"Tzioufas","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. 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