Novel risk genes for systemic lupus erythematosus predicted by random forest classification.

ABSTRACT: Genome-wide association studies have identified risk loci for SLE, but a large proportion of the genetic contribution to SLE still remains unexplained. To detect novel risk genes, and to predict an individual's SLE risk we designed a random forest classifier using SNP genotype data generated on the "Immunochip" from 1,160 patients with SLE and 2,711 controls. Using gene importance scores defined by the random forest classifier, we identified 15 potential novel risk genes for SLE. Of them 12 are associated with other autoimmune diseases than SLE, whereas three genes (ZNF804A, CDK1, and MANF) have not previously been associated with autoimmunity. Random forest classification also allowed prediction of patients at risk for lupus nephritis with an area under the curve of 0.94. By allele-specif

SUBMITTER: Almlof JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5524838 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature