scholarly journals Genome-wide association and HLA region fine-mapping studies identify susceptibility loci for multiple common infections

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Tian ◽  
Bethann S. Hromatka ◽  
Amy K Kiefer ◽  
Nicholas Eriksson ◽  
Joyce Y Tung ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe performed 23 genome-wide association studies for common infections, including chickenpox, shingles, cold sores, mononucleosis, mumps, hepatitis B, plantar warts, positive tuberculosis test results, strep throat, scarlet fever, pneumonia, bacterial meningitis, yeast infections, urinary tract infections, tonsillectomy, childhood ear infections, myringotomy, measles, hepatitis A, rheumatic fever, common colds, rubella and chronic sinus infection, in more than 200,000 individuals of European ancestry. For the first time, genome-wide significant associations (P< 5 × 10−8) were identified for many common infections. The associations were mapped to genes with key roles in acquired and innate immunity(HLA, IFNA21, FUT2, ST3GAL4, ABO, IFNL4, LCE3E, DSG1, LTBR, MTMR3, TNFRSF13B, TNFSF13B, NFKB1, CD40) and in regulation of embryonic developmental process(TBX1, FGF, FOXA1 and FOXN1).Several missense mutations were also identified (inLCE5A, DSG1, FUT2, TBX1, CDHR3, PLG, TNFRSF13B, FOXA1, SH2B3, ST5andFOXN1). Missense mutations inFUT2andTBX1were implicated in multiple infections. We applied fine-mapping analysis to dissect associations in the human leukocyte antigen region, which suggested important roles of specific amino acid polymorphisms in the antigen-binding clefts. Our findings provide an important step toward dissecting the host genetic architecture of response to common infections.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Segun Fatumo ◽  
Tinashe Chikowore ◽  
Robert Kalyesubula ◽  
Rebecca N Nsubuga ◽  
Gershim Asiki ◽  
...  

AbstractGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) for kidney function have uncovered hundreds of risk loci, primarily in populations of European ancestry. We conducted the first GWAS of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in Africa in 3288 Ugandans and replicated the findings in 8224 African Americans. We identified two loci associated with eGFR at genome-wide significance (p<5×10−8). The most significantly associated variant (rs2433603, p=2.4×10−9) in GATM was distinct from previously reported signals. A second association signal mapping near HBB (rs141845179, p=3.0×10−8) was not significant after conditioning on a previously reported SNP (rs334) for eGFR. However, fine-mapping analyses highlighted rs141845179 to be the most likely causal variant at the HBB locus (posterior probability of 0.61). A trans-ethnic GRS of eGFR constructed from previously reported lead SNPs was not predictive into the Ugandan population, indicating that additional large-scale efforts in Africa are necessary to gain further insight into the genetic architecture of kidney disease.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Segun Fatumo ◽  
Tinashe Chikowore ◽  
Robert Kalyesubula ◽  
Rebecca N Nsubuga ◽  
Gershim Asiki ◽  
...  

Abstract Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of kidney function have uncovered hundreds of loci, primarily in populations of European ancestry. We have undertaken the first continental African GWAS of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of kidney function used to define chronic kidney disease (CKD). We conducted GWAS of eGFR in 3288 East Africans from the Uganda General Population Cohort (GPC) and replicated in 8224 African Americans from the Women’s Health Initiative. Loci attaining genome-wide significant evidence for association (P &lt; 5 × 10−8) were followed up with Bayesian fine-mapping to localize potential causal variants. The predictive power of a genetic risk score (GRS) constructed from previously reported trans-ancestry eGFR lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) was evaluated in the Uganda GPC. We identified and validated two eGFR loci. At the glycine amidinotransferase (GATM) locus, the association signal (lead SNP rs2433603, P = 1.0 × 10−8) in the Uganda GPC GWAS was distinct from previously reported signals at this locus. At the haemoglobin beta (HBB) locus, the association signal (lead SNP rs141845179, P = 3.0 × 10−8) has been previously reported. The lead SNP at the HBB locus accounted for 88% of the posterior probability of causality after fine-mapping, but did not colocalise with kidney expression quantitative trait loci. The trans-ancestry GRS of eGFR was not significantly predictive into the Ugandan population. In the first GWAS of eGFR in continental Africa, we validated two previously reported loci at GATM and HBB. At the GATM locus, the association signal was distinct from that previously reported. These results demonstrate the value of performing GWAS in continental Africans, providing a rich genomic resource to larger consortia for further discovery and fine-mapping. The study emphasizes that additional large-scale efforts in Africa are warranted to gain further insight into the genetic architecture of CKD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Teumer ◽  
Yong Li ◽  
Sahar Ghasemi ◽  
Bram P. Prins ◽  
Matthias Wuttke ◽  
...  

Abstract Increased levels of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) are associated with higher risk of kidney disease progression and cardiovascular events, but underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here, we conduct trans-ethnic (n = 564,257) and European-ancestry specific meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies of UACR, including ancestry- and diabetes-specific analyses, and identify 68 UACR-associated loci. Genetic correlation analyses and risk score associations in an independent electronic medical records database (n = 192,868) reveal connections with proteinuria, hyperlipidemia, gout, and hypertension. Fine-mapping and trans-Omics analyses with gene expression in 47 tissues and plasma protein levels implicate genes potentially operating through differential expression in kidney (including TGFB1, MUC1, PRKCI, and OAF), and allow coupling of UACR associations to altered plasma OAF concentrations. Knockdown of OAF and PRKCI orthologs in Drosophila nephrocytes reduces albumin endocytosis. Silencing fly PRKCI further impairs slit diaphragm formation. These results generate a priority list of genes and pathways for translational research to reduce albuminuria.


Author(s):  
Jianhua Wang ◽  
Dandan Huang ◽  
Yao Zhou ◽  
Hongcheng Yao ◽  
Huanhuan Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have revolutionized the field of complex trait genetics over the past decade, yet for most of the significant genotype-phenotype associations the true causal variants remain unknown. Identifying and interpreting how causal genetic variants confer disease susceptibility is still a big challenge. Herein we introduce a new database, CAUSALdb, to integrate the most comprehensive GWAS summary statistics to date and identify credible sets of potential causal variants using uniformly processed fine-mapping. The database has six major features: it (i) curates 3052 high-quality, fine-mappable GWAS summary statistics across five human super-populations and 2629 unique traits; (ii) estimates causal probabilities of all genetic variants in GWAS significant loci using three state-of-the-art fine-mapping tools; (iii) maps the reported traits to a powerful ontology MeSH, making it simple for users to browse studies on the trait tree; (iv) incorporates highly interactive Manhattan and LocusZoom-like plots to allow visualization of credible sets in a single web page more efficiently; (v) enables online comparison of causal relations on variant-, gene- and trait-levels among studies with different sample sizes or populations and (vi) offers comprehensive variant annotations by integrating massive base-wise and allele-specific functional annotations. CAUSALdb is freely available at http://mulinlab.org/causaldb.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara L Pulit ◽  
Charli Stoneman ◽  
Andrew P Morris ◽  
Andrew R Wood ◽  
Craig A Glastonbury ◽  
...  

Abstract More than one in three adults worldwide is either overweight or obese. Epidemiological studies indicate that the location and distribution of excess fat, rather than general adiposity, are more informative for predicting risk of obesity sequelae, including cardiometabolic disease and cancer. We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of body fat distribution, measured by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) adjusted for body mass index (WHRadjBMI), and identified 463 signals in 346 loci. Heritability and variant effects were generally stronger in women than men, and we found approximately one-third of all signals to be sexually dimorphic. The 5% of individuals carrying the most WHRadjBMI-increasing alleles were 1.62 times more likely than the bottom 5% to have a WHR above the thresholds used for metabolic syndrome. These data, made publicly available, will inform the biology of body fat distribution and its relationship with disease.


Circulation ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 133 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James S Floyd ◽  
Colleen Sitlani ◽  
Christy L Avery ◽  
Eric A Whitsel ◽  
Leslie Lange ◽  
...  

Introduction: Sulfonylureas are a commonly-used class of diabetes medication that can prolong the QT-interval, which is a leading cause of drug withdrawals from the market given the possible risk of life-threatening arrhythmias. Previously, we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of sulfonylurea-genetic interactions on QT interval among 9 European-ancestry (EA) cohorts using cross-sectional data, with null results. To improve our power to identify novel drug-gene interactions, we have included repeated measures of medication use and QT interval and expanded our study to include several additional cohorts, including African-American (AA) and Hispanic-ancestry (HA) cohorts with a high prevalence of sulfonylurea use. To identify potentially differential effects on cardiac depolarization and repolarization, we have also added two phenotypes - the JT and QRS intervals, which together comprise the QT interval. Hypothesis: The use of repeated measures and expansion of our meta-analysis to include diverse ancestry populations will allow us to identify novel pharmacogenomic interactions for sulfonylureas on the ECG phenotypes QT, JT, and QRS. Methods: Cohorts with unrelated individuals used generalized estimating equations to estimate interactions; cohorts with related individuals used mixed effect models clustered on family. For each ECG phenotype (QT, JT, QRS), we conducted ancestry-specific (EA, AA, HA) inverse variance weighted meta-analyses using standard errors based on the t-distribution to correct for small sample inflation in the test statistic. Ancestry-specific summary estimates were combined using MANTRA, an analytic method that accounts for differences in local linkage disequilibrium between ethnic groups. Results: Our study included 65,997 participants from 21 cohorts, including 4,020 (6%) sulfonylurea users, a substantial increase from the 26,986 participants and 846 sulfonylureas users in the previous meta-analysis. Preliminary ancestry-specific meta-analyses have identified genome-wide significant associations (P < 5х10–8) for each ECG phenotype, and analyses with MANTRA are in progress. Conclusions: In the setting of the largest collection of pharmacogenomic studies to date, we used repeated measurements and leveraged diverse ancestry populations to identify new pharmacogenomic loci for ECG traits associated with cardiovascular risk.


Cosmetics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Miranda A. Farage ◽  
Yunxuan Jiang ◽  
Jay P. Tiesman ◽  
Pierre Fontanillas ◽  
Rosemarie Osborne

Individuals suffering from sensitive skin often have other skin conditions and/or diseases, such as fair skin, freckles, rosacea, or atopic dermatitis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been performed for some of these conditions, but not for sensitive skin. In this study, a total of 23,426 unrelated participants of European ancestry from the 23andMe database were evaluated for self-declared sensitive skin, other skin conditions, and diseases using an online questionnaire format. Responders were separated into two groups: those who declared they had sensitive skin (n = 8971) and those who declared their skin was not sensitive (controls, n = 14,455). A GWAS of sensitive skin individuals identified three genome-wide significance loci (p-value < 5 × 10−8) and seven suggestive loci (p-value < 1 × 10−6). Of the three most significant loci, all have been associated with pigmentation and two have been associated with acne.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geneviève Galarneau ◽  
Pierre Fontanillas ◽  
Caterina Clementi ◽  
Tina Hu-Seliger ◽  
David-Emlyn Parfitt ◽  
...  

AbstractEndometriosis affects ∼10% of women of reproductive age. It is characterized by the growth of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus and is frequently associated with severe pain and infertility. We performed the largest endometriosis genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date, with 37,183 cases and 251,258 controls. All women were of European ancestry. We also performed the first GWAS of endometriosis-related infertility, including 2,969 cases and 3,770 controls. Our endometriosis GWAS study replicated, at genome-wide significance, seven loci identified in previous endometriosis GWASs (CELA3A-CDC42, SYNE1, KDR, FSHB-ARL14EP, GREB1, ID4, and CEP112) and identified seven new candidate loci with genome-wide significance (NGF, ATP1B1-F5, CD109, HEY2, OSR2-VPS13B, WT1, and TEX11-SLC7A3). No loci demonstrated genome-wide significance for endometriosis-related infertility, however, the three most strongly associated loci (MCTP1, EPS8L3-CSF1, and LPIN1) were in or near genes associated with female fertility or embryonic lethality in model organisms. These results reveal new candidate genes with potential involvement in the pathophysiology of endometriosis and endometriosis-related infertility.


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