A genome-wide cross-trait analysis from UK Biobank highlights the shared genetic architecture of asthma and allergic diseases.

Nat Genet
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Clinical and epidemiological data suggest that asthma and allergic diseases are associated and may share a common genetic etiology. We analyzed genome-wide SNP data for asthma and allergic diseases in 33,593 cases and 76,768 controls of European ancestry from UK Biobank. Two publicly available independent genome-wide association studies were used for replication. We have found a strong genome-wide genetic correlation between asthma and allergic diseases (r = 0.75, P = 6.84 × 10). Cross-trait analysis identified 38 genome-wide significant loci, including 7 novel shared loci. Computational analysis showed that shared genetic loci are enriched in immune/inflammatory systems and tissues with epithelium cells. Our work identifies common genetic architectures shared between asthma and allergy and will help to advance understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying co-morbid asthma and allergic diseases.

Year of Publication
2018
Journal
Nat Genet
Volume
50
Issue
6
Pages
857-864
Date Published
2018 06
ISSN
1546-1718
DOI
10.1038/s41588-018-0121-0
PubMed ID
29785011
PubMed Central ID
PMC5980765
Links
Grant list
R01 HL060710 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
MC_QA137853 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
R56 HL134356 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R00 MH101367 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
MC_PC_12028 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
MC_PC_17228 / MRC_ / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
R01 HL114769 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States