Genetic variants in the region harbouring IL2/IL21 associated with ulcerative colitis

  • E. A. M. Festen
  • , P. Goyette
  • , R. Scott
  • , V. Annese
  • , A. Zhernakova
  • , J. Lian
  • , C. Lefebvre
  • , S. R. Brant
  • , J. H. Cho
  • , M. S. Silverberg
  • , K. D. Taylor
  • , D. J. de Jong
  • , P. C. Stokkers
  • , D. Mcgovern
  • , O. Palmieri
  • , J-P Achkar
  • , R. J. Xavier
  • , M. J. Daly
  • , R. H. Duerr
  • , C. Wijmenga
  • R. K. Weersma, J. D. Rioux*
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

129 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: Genetic susceptibility is known to play a large part in the predisposition to the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) known as Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The IL2/IL21 locus on 4q27 is known to be a common risk locus for inflammatory disease (shown in coeliac disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and psoriasis), while the roles that interleukin 2 (IL2) and IL21 play in the immune response also make them attractive candidates for IBD. The objective of this study was to test for association between the IL2/IL21 locus and the IBDs.

Methods: The four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IL2/IL21 locus most associated with coeliac disease were genotyped in 1590 subjects with IBD and 929 controls from The Netherlands, and then replicated in a North American cohort (2387 cases and 1266 controls) and an Italian cohort (805 cases and 421 controls), yielding a total of 4782 cases (3194 UC, 1588 CD) and 2616 controls. Allelic association testing and a pooled analysis using a Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test were performed.

Results: All four SNPs were strongly associated with UC in all three cohorts and reached genome-wide significance in the pooled analysis (rs13151961 p = 1.35x10(-10), rs13119723 p = 8.60x10(-8), rs6840978 p = 3.07x10(-8), rs6822844 p = 2.77x10(-9)). A moderate association with CD was also found in the pooled analysis (p value range 0.0016-9.86x10(-5)).

Conclusions: A strong association for the IL2/IL21 locus with UC was found, which also confirms it as a general susceptibility locus for inflammatory disease.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)799-804
Number of pages6
JournalGut
Volume58
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun-2009

Keywords

  • GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION
  • INFLAMMATORY-BOWEL-DISEASE
  • SYSTEMIC-LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS
  • CELIAC-DISEASE
  • CROHNS-DISEASE
  • SUSCEPTIBILITY LOCI
  • BARRIER DEFECT
  • RISK VARIANTS
  • MYOSIN IXB
  • INTERLEUKIN-21

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