Comprehensive analysis of the major histocompatibility complex in systemic sclerosis identifies differential HLA associations by clinical and serological subtypes.

Acosta-Herrera M, Kerick M, Lopez-Isac E, Assassi S, Beretta L, Simeon-Aznar CP, Ortego-Centeno N, Proudman SM, Hunzelmann N, Moroncini G, De Vries-Bouwstra JK, Orozco G, Barton A, Herrick AL, Terao C, Allanore Y, Brown MA, Radstake TRDJ, Fonseca C, Denton CP, Mayes MD, Martin J (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Book Volume: 80

Pages Range: 1040-1047

Journal Issue: 8

DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-219884

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The greatest genetic effect reported for systemic sclerosis (SSc) lies in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus. Leveraging the largest SSc genome-wide association study, we aimed to fine-map this region to identify novel human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genetic variants associated with SSc susceptibility and its main clinical and serological subtypes. METHODS: 9095 patients with SSc and 17 584 controls genome-wide genotyped were used to impute and test single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the MHC, classical HLA alleles and their composite amino acid residues. Additionally, patients were stratified according to their clinical and serological status, namely, limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc), diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc), anticentromere (ACA), antitopoisomerase (ATA) and anti-RNApolIII autoantibodies (ARA). RESULTS: Sequential conditional analyses showed nine SNPs, nine classical alleles and seven amino acids that modelled the observed associations with SSc. This confirmed previously reported associations with HLA-DRB1*11:04 and HLA-DPB1*13:01, and revealed a novel association of HLA-B*08:01. Stratified analyses showed specific associations of HLA-DQA1*02:01 with lcSSc, and an exclusive association of HLA-DQA1*05:01 with dcSSc. Similarly, private associations were detected in HLA-DRB1*08:01 and confirmed the previously reported association of HLA-DRB1*07:01 with ACA-positive patients, as opposed to the HLA-DPA1*02:01 and HLA-DQB1*03:01 alleles associated with ATA presentation. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the contribution of HLA class II and reveals a novel association of HLA class I with SSc, suggesting novel pathways of disease pathogenesis. Furthermore, we describe specific HLA associations with SSc clinical and serological subtypes that could serve as biomarkers of disease severity and progression.

Additional Organisation(s)

Involved external institutions

University of Manchester United Kingdom (GB) Royal Adelaide Hospital Australia (AU) Vall d'Hebron University Hospital / Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron Spain (ES) University College London (UCL) United Kingdom (GB) Universidad de Granada Spain (ES) Spanish National Research Council / Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) Spain (ES) University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) Netherlands (NL) University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) United States (USA) (US) Università Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM) / Marche Polytechnic University Italy (IT) Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda - Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Italy (IT) IMS RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences Japan (JP) Universität zu Köln Germany (DE) Hôpital Cochin France (FR) Guy's and St Thomas' (NHS Foundation Trust) United Kingdom (GB) Leiden University Netherlands (NL)

How to cite

APA:

Acosta-Herrera, M., Kerick, M., Lopez-Isac, E., Assassi, S., Beretta, L., Simeon-Aznar, C.P.,... Martin, J. (2021). Comprehensive analysis of the major histocompatibility complex in systemic sclerosis identifies differential HLA associations by clinical and serological subtypes. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 80(8), 1040-1047. https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-219884

MLA:

Acosta-Herrera, Marialbert, et al. "Comprehensive analysis of the major histocompatibility complex in systemic sclerosis identifies differential HLA associations by clinical and serological subtypes." Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 80.8 (2021): 1040-1047.

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