The SH2B3-ATXN2 region on chromosomal 12q24.11 is another locus that we found related to cystatin C, which had associated with a wide spectrum of complex diseases, such as hematopoietic disorders of red and white blood cells, rheumatoid arthritis, retinal microcirculation problems, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular infarction, and neurodegenerative diseases in previous studies (Gudbjartsson et al., 2009; Ikram et al., 2010; Kottgen et al., 2010; Mehta, 2011; Auburger et al., 2014). Here, ATXN2 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.