Genome-wide association study identifies <i>ABCG1</i> as a susceptibility locus for tick-borne encephalitis.

ABSTRACT: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral infection of the central nervous system, caused by the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) presenting clinically as meningitis, meningoencephalitis, and meningoencephalomyelitis. To investigate genetic susceptibility to TBE, and its severe forms, we conducted a genome-wide association study in the European population comprising 1,600 TBE cases and 9,699 controls. We identified several suggestive (p < 1 × 10^-5) intronic and exonic variants in ABCG1, the only gene significantly associated with TBE susceptibility. These variants were shown to influence ABCG1 expression in peripheral blood, a finding corroborated by RNA expression analysis. In vitro inhibition or silencing of ABCG1 significantly reduced TBE

SUBMITTER: Gampawar PG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12686730 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature