👤 Alessandra Marconi

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a complex hematologic malignancy with multiple disease subgroups defined by somatic mutations and heterogeneous outcomes. Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a small number of common genetic variants influencing AML risk, the heritable component of this disease outside of familial susceptibility remains largely undefined. Here, we perform a meta-analysis of 4 published GWAS plus 2 new GWAS, totaling 4710 AML cases and 12 938 controls. We identify a new genome-wide significant risk locus for pan-AML at 2p23.3 (rs4665765; P = 1.35 × 10-8; EFR3B, POMC, DNMT3A, and DNAJC27), which also significantly associates with patient survival (P = 6.09 × 10-3). Our analysis also identifies 3 new genome-wide significant risk loci for disease subgroups, including AML with deletions of chromosome 5 and/or 7 at 1q23.3 (rs12078864; P = 7.0 × 10-10; DUSP23) and cytogenetically complex AML at 2q33.3 (rs12988876; P = 3.28 × 10-8; PARD3B) and 2p21 (rs79918355; P = 1.60 × 10-9; EPCAM). We also investigated loci previously associated with the risk of clonal hematopoiesis (CH) or CH of indeterminate potential and identified several variants associated with the risk of AML. Our results further inform on AML etiology and demonstrate the existence of disease subgroup specific risk loci. Show less

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of circulating metabolites have revealed the role of genetic regulation on the human metabolome. Most previous investigations focused on European ancestry, and few studies have been conducted among populations of African descent living in Africa, where the infectious disease burden is high (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)). It is important to understand the genetic associations of the metabolome in diverse at-risk populations including people with HIV (PWH) living in Africa. After a thorough literature review, the reported significant gene−metabolite associations were tested among 490 PWH in South Africa. Linear regression was used to test associations between the candidate metabolites and genetic variants. GWAS of 154 plasma metabolites were performed to identify novel genetic associations. Among the 29 gene−metabolite associations identified in the literature, we replicated 10 in South Africans with HIV. The UGT1A cluster was associated with plasma levels of biliverdin and bilirubin; SLC16A9 and CPS1 were associated with carnitine and creatine, respectively. We also identified 22 genetic associations with metabolites using a genome-wide significance threshold (p-value < 5 × 10−8). In a GWAS of plasma metabolites in South African PWH, we replicated reported genetic associations across ancestries, and identified novel genetic associations using a metabolomics approach. Show less

Some studies have suggested an overlap of clinical and genetic findings between essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The first genome-wide association study in ET showed a significant association with the rs9652490 SNP of the leucine-rich repeat and Ig domain containing 1 (LINGO1) gene. Since patients with PD have higher LINGO1 expression levels compared to healthy controls, and animal models of PD show elevated LINGO1 protein levels after experimentally induced damage in the striatum, it can be inferred that LINGO1 is probably involved in PD pathophysiology. In this study, we performed a genetic association analysis of the rs9652490 and rs11856808 SNPs in Italian PD patients and controls to assess the role of these variants in our population. A total of 567 patients with PD and 468 control subjects were enrolled in five Movement Disorder centers located in Central-Southern Italy. Both variants were significantly associated with PD under a recessive model of inheritance before applying the Bonferroni correction. The GG genotype of rs9652490 and the TT genotype of rs11856808 were less frequent in patients than in controls, suggesting a protective effect against the disease. However, after stringent correction, only the P-values obtained from allele and genotype comparisons of the rs11856808 SNP remained significant. Our findings suggest that LINGO1 plays a certain role in the development of PD in the Italian population and represents an interesting candidate gene responsible for PD, due to its involvement in neurological processes. Show less