Genetic Analysis with the Immunochip Platform in Behçet Disease. Identification of Residues Associated in the HLA Class I Region and New Susceptibility Loci

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 22;11(8):e0161305. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161305. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Behcet's disease (BD) is an immuno-mediated vasculitis in which knowledge of its etiology and genetic basis is limited. To improve the current knowledge, a genetic analysis performed with the Immunochip platform was carried out in a population from Spain. A discovery cohort comprising 278 BD cases and 1,517 unaffected controls were genotyped using the Immunochip platform. The validation step was performed on an independent replication cohort composed of 130 BD cases and 600 additional controls. The strongest association signals were observed in the HLA class I region, being HLA-B*51 the highest peak (overall P = 6.82E-32, OR = 3.82). A step-wise conditional logistic regression with classical alleles identified HLA-B*57 and HLA-A*03 as additional independent markers. The amino acid model that best explained the association, includes the position 97 of the HLA-B molecule and the position 66 of the HLA-A. Among the non-HLA loci, the most significant in the discovery analysis were: IL23R (rs10889664: P = 3.81E-12, OR = 2.00), the JRKL/CNTN5 region (rs2848479: P = 5.00E-08, OR = 1.68) and IL12A (rs1874886: P = 6.67E-08, OR = 1.72), which were confirmed in the validation phase (JRKL/CNTN5 rs2848479: P = 3.29E-10, OR = 1.66; IL12A rs1874886: P = 1.62E-08, OR = 1.61). Our results confirm HLA-B*51 as a primary-association marker in predisposition to BD and suggest additional independent signals within the class I region, specifically in the genes HLA-A and HLA-B. Regarding the non-HLA genes, in addition to IL-23R, previously reported in our population; IL12A, described in other populations, was found to be a BD susceptibility factor also in Spaniards; finally, a new associated locus was found in the JRKL/CNTN5 region.

MeSH terms

  • Alleles
  • Behcet Syndrome / genetics*
  • Behcet Syndrome / immunology
  • Behcet Syndrome / pathology
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Contactins / genetics*
  • Contactins / immunology
  • Gene Frequency
  • Genetic Loci
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • HLA-A3 Antigen / genetics
  • HLA-A3 Antigen / immunology
  • HLA-B Antigens / genetics
  • HLA-B Antigens / immunology
  • HLA-B51 Antigen / genetics*
  • HLA-B51 Antigen / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay
  • Interleukin-12 Subunit p35 / genetics*
  • Interleukin-12 Subunit p35 / immunology
  • Logistic Models
  • Microarray Analysis
  • Models, Molecular
  • Receptors, Interleukin / genetics*
  • Receptors, Interleukin / immunology
  • Spain

Substances

  • CNTN5 protein, human
  • Contactins
  • HLA-A3 Antigen
  • HLA-B Antigens
  • HLA-B51 Antigen
  • HLA-B57 antigen
  • IL12A protein, human
  • IL23R protein, human
  • Interleukin-12 Subunit p35
  • Receptors, Interleukin

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, 13/01118), Fondos FEDER and Plan Andaluz de Investigación (CTS-0197). LOF is the recipient of a fellowship (ISCIII, FI11/00547) and FDC was funded by the RETICS Program (RIER, ISCIII, RD12/0009/0013). All these are public institutions from Spain and the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.