In RA, the majority of affected individuals carryHLA-DRB1alleles that code for a susceptibility (or ‘shared’) epitope (SE) motif QKRAA, QRRAA, or RRRAA in position 70–74 of the DRβ chain16. However, the association is not disease-specific. SE-codingHLA-DRB1alleles have also been fo...