Analysis of disease-pathway by identifying susceptibility genes to primary biliary cirrhosis

Abstract

High concordance rate in monozygotic twins and familial clustering of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) indicate the involvement of strong genetic factors in the development of PBC. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and subsequent meta-analyses in European descent have identified HLA and 21 non-HLA susceptibility loci which are involved in IL12/IL12R signaling, TNF/TLR-NFKB signaling and B cell differentiation in the development of PBC. To identify susceptibility loci for PBC in Japanese population, a GWAS and subsequent replication study was performed in a total of 1327 PBC cases and 1120 healthy controls. In addition to the most significant susceptibility region at HLA, two significant (p<5×10(-8)) susceptibility loci (TNFSF15 and POU2AF1) were identified. Although these susceptibility loci are different from those identified in European descent (IL12A, IL12RB2, SPIB), these loci are involved in the same signaling pathways, differentiation of T lymphocyte to Th1 cells and differentiation of B lymphocyte to plasma cells. Among 21 non-HLA susceptibility loci for PBC identified in GWASs of European descent, 10 loci (CD80, IKZF3, IL7R, NFKB1, STAT4, TNFAIP2, CXCR5, MAP3K7IP1, rs6974491, DENND1B) showed significant associations in the Japanese population. The comparative analysis of disease-susceptibility genes in multiple ethnicities may provide an important clue for the dissection of disease-pathogenesis.