The minor allele of the R620W missense single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; 
rs2476601) in the PTPN22 (protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor 22) gene has 
been reported to be associated with multiple autoimmune diseases, including type 
1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile 
idiopathic arthritis, autoimmune thyroiditis and vitiligo. Systemic sclerosis 
(SSc) is a connective tissue disease with some autoimmune abnormalities. The aim 
of our study was to test for association of the PTPN22*620W allele with SSc in a 
French Caucasian cohort with a case-control study of 121 patients with SSc and 
103 controls. All patients and controls were genotyped for the PTPN22*R620W SNP. 
No association was found between the PTPN22*620W allele and SSc (7% v 9.2%, p = 
0.39). The frequency of genotypes carrying at least one 620W allele was similar 
in both groups (13% v 17%, p = 0.38). The PTPN22*620W allele was also not 
associated with autoantibody patterns. Thus, the PTPN22*R620W polymorphism 
cannot be regarded as a genetic susceptibility factor for SSc in the French 
Caucasian population.