Genetic associations with radiological damage in rheumatoid arthritis: Meta-analysis of seven genome-wide association studies of 2,775 cases

Matthew Traylor, Rachel Knevel, Jing Cui, John Taylor, Westra Harm-Jan, Philip G. Conaghan, Andrew P. Cope, Charles Curtis, Paul Emery, Stephen Newhouse, Hamel Patel, Sophia Steer, Peter Gregersen, Nancy A. Shadick, Michael E. Weinblatt, Annette van der Helm-Van Mil, Jennifer H. Barrett, Ann W. Morgan, Cathryn M. Lewis, Ian C. Scott

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background Previous studies of radiological damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have used candidate-gene approaches, or evaluated single genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We undertook the first meta-analysis of GWAS of RA radiological damage to: (1) identify novel genetic loci for this trait; and (2) test previously validated variants. Methods Seven GWAS (2,775 RA cases, of a range of ancestries) were combined in a meta-analysis. Radiological damage was assessed using modified Larsen scores, Sharp van Der Heijde scores, and erosive status. Single nucleotide polymophsim (SNP) associations with radiological damage were tested at a single time-point using regression models. Primary analyses included age and disease duration as covariates. Secondary analyses also included rheumatoid factor (RF). Meta-analyses were undertaken in trans-ethnic and European-only cases. Results In the trans-ethnic primary meta-analysis, one SNP (rs112112734) in close proximity to HLA-DRB1, and strong linkage disequilibrium with the shared-epitope, attained genomewide significance (P = 4.2x10-8). In the secondary analysis (adjusting for RF) the association was less significant (P = 1.7x10-6). In both trans-ethnic primary and secondary meta-analyses 14 regions contained SNPs with associations reaching P<5x10-6; in the European primary and secondary analyses 13 and 10 regions contained SNPs reaching P<5x10-6, respectively. Of the previously validated SNPs for radiological progression, only rs660895 (tagging HLA-DRB1*04:01) attained significance (P = 1.6x10-5) and had a consistent direction of effect across GWAS. Conclusions Our meta-analysis confirms the known association between the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope and RA radiological damage. The lack of replication of previously validated non-HLA markers highlights a requirement for further research to deliver clinically-useful prognostic genetic markers.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0223246
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume14
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2019
Externally publishedYes

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