To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a positive association of HLA-DPB1*05∶01 with anti-Ro/SS-A and anti-La/SS-B antibodies in RA, although a tendency towards a higher frequency of this allele in Japanese patients with anti-Ro/SS-A or anti-La/SS-B antibodies has been reported before [9]. Here, SSB is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.