Genetic association analysis identifies variants associated with disease progression in primary sclerosing cholangitis.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked FilesPrimary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a genetically complex, inflammatory bile duct disease of largely unknown aetiology often leading to liver transplantation or death. Little is known about the genetic contribution to the severity and progression of PSC. The aim of this study is to identify genetic variants associated with PSC disease progression and development of complications. We collected standardised PSC subphenotypes in a large cohort of 3402 patients with PSC. After quality control, we combined 130 422 single nucleotide polymorphisms of all patients-obtained using the Illumina immunochip-with their disease subphenotypes. Using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models, we identified genetic variants associated with binary and time-to-event PSC subphenotypes. We identified genetic variant rs853974 to be associated with liver transplant-free survival (p=6.07×10 We present a large international PSC cohort, and report genetic loci associated with PSC disease progression. For liver transplant-free survival, we identified a genome-wide significant signal and demonstrated expression of the candidate genePSC Partners Seeking a Cure grant 'Unraveling genetics driving PSC subphenotypes: an IPSCSG study' ERC grant Relieve IMDs Cambridge Hospitals National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Center German Research Community (DFG) NIH Sigismunda Palumbo Charitable Trust Career Development Grant from Dutch Digestive Foundation (Maag Lever Darm Stichting, MLDS) VIDI grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) PSC Partners Seeking a Cure grant 'The Exome in PSC