Furthermore, we recently assessed the contribution of several genetic markers (HLA-shared epitope, TNFR2 196R and PTPN22 1858T alleles) for RA diagnosis and found that the autoimmune markers (rheumatoid factors and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA)) were the best parameters to predict RA diagnosis precociously [2]. The gene discussed is PTPN22; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.