Further peptide alignment analysis of the HLA-DRB1 protein revealed that the HLA-DRB1 Val11 and HLA-DRB1 Asn120 are exclusive characteristics for all the HLA-DRB1*04 and HLA-DRB1*10 alleles, indicating HLA-DRB1 Asn120 is not an independent risk factor for developing ACPA-positive RA among the Malay patients (online HLA alignment database https://www.ebi.ac.uk/cgi-bin/imgt/hla/align.cgi). This evidence concerns the gene HLA-DRB1 and rheumatoid arthritis.