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Fazia T, Pastorino R, Foco L, Han L, Abney M, Beecham A, Hadjixenofontos A, Guo H, Gentilini D, Papachristou C, Bitti PP, Ticca A, Berzuini C, McCauley JL, Bernardinelli L. Investigating multiple sclerosis genetic susceptibility on the founder population of east-central Sardinia via association and linkage analysis of immune-related loci. Mult Scler 2018; 24:1815-1824. [PMID: 28933650 DOI: 10.1177/1352458517732841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A wealth of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) responsible for multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility have been identified; however, they explain only a fraction of MS heritability. OBJECTIVES We contributed to discovery of new MS susceptibility SNPs by studying a founder population with high MS prevalence. METHODS We analyzed ImmunoChip data from 15 multiplex families and 94 unrelated controls from the Nuoro Province, Sardinia, Italy. We tested each SNP for both association and linkage with MS, the linkage being explored in terms of identity-by-descent (IBD) sharing excess and using gene dropping to compute a corresponding empirical p-value. By targeting regions that are both associated and in linkage with MS, we increase chances of identifying interesting genomic regions. RESULTS We identified 486 MS-associated (p < 1 × 10-4) and 18,426 MS-linked (p < 0.05) SNPs. A total of 111 loci were both linked and associated with MS, 18 of them pointing to 14 non-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, and 93 of them located in the MHC region. CONCLUSION We discovered new suggestive signals and confirmed some previously identified ones. We believe this to represent a significant step toward an understanding of the genetic basis of MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Fazia
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Roberta Pastorino
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Luisa Foco
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, Bolzano, Italy
| | - Lide Han
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mark Abney
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Ashley Beecham
- John P. Hussmann Institute for Human Genomics and Dr John Macdonald Foundation, Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Athena Hadjixenofontos
- John P. Hussmann Institute for Human Genomics and Dr John Macdonald Foundation, Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Hui Guo
- Center for Biostatistics, Institute of Population Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Davide Gentilini
- Unità di Bioinformatica e Statistica Genomica, Istituto Auxologico Italiano-IRCCS, Milano, Italy
| | | | - Pier Paolo Bitti
- Immunoematologia e Medicina Trasfusionale, Ospedale "San Francesco" Nuoro, ASSL Nuoro, Azienda Tutela Salute Sardegna, Nuoro, Italy
| | - Anna Ticca
- Neurologia e Stroke Unit, Ospedale "San Francesco" Nuoro, ASSL Nuoro, Azienda Tutela Salute Sardegna, Nuoro, Italy
| | - Carlo Berzuini
- Center for Biostatistics, Institute of Population Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jacob L McCauley
- John P. Hussmann Institute for Human Genomics and Dr John Macdonald Foundation, Department of Human Genetics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Luisa Bernardinelli
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Science, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
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