Given the importance of vascular I/R injury in SSc on the one hand, and the central involvement of the lectin pathway in I/R injury on the other hand, we hypothesized that the presence of MBL deficiency and polymorphisms in the MBL2 and FCN2 genes are associated with a reduced risk of SSc and less severe disease manifestations in SSc patients. This evidence concerns the gene MBL2 and systemic sclerosis.