A Genome-wide Association Study Identifies Risk Alleles in Plasminogen and P4HA2 Associated with Giant Cell Arteritis.

ABSTRACT: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of vasculitis in individuals older than 50 years in Western countries. To shed light onto the genetic background influencing susceptibility for GCA, we performed a genome-wide association screening in a well-powered study cohort. After imputation, 1,844,133 genetic variants were analyzed in 2,134 case subjects and 9,125 unaffected individuals from ten independent populations of European ancestry. Our data confirmed HLA class II as the strongest associated region (independent signals: rs9268905, p = 1.94 × 10^-54, per-allele OR = 1.79; and rs9275592, p = 1.14 × 10^-40, OR = 2.08). Additionally, PLG and P4HA2 were identified as GCA risk genes at the genome-wide level of significance (rs4252134, p = 1.23 × 10^-10

SUBMITTER: Carmona FD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5223025 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature