IRF5 and systemic lupus erythematosus: Initially, 3 common polymorphisms in the IRF5 gene (SNPs rs2004640 in the 5′ UTR and rs10954213 in the 3′ UTR and a 30 nucleotides insertion in exon 6) [97] were proposed to alter the function or levels of IRF5 mRNA and proteins, thus explaining the association of risk alleles of these polymorphisms with SLE.