Dissecting age-specific genetic architecture of vitiligo through integrative Post-GWAS analysisVitiligo

We employed linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) to quantify genetic correlation between EO and LO vitiligo, subsequently applying stratified LDSC to evaluate functional annotation and cell-type-specific heritability enrichment across immune cell populations. Multi-marker analysis of genomic annotation identified subtype-associated genes and assessed their potential biological functions and tissue-specific enrichment patterns. Summary-data-based Mendelian randomization (SMR) evaluated causal associations at both transcriptional and translational levels, complemented by colocalization analysis to identify putative core targets. Expression specificity of core targets was assessed using peripheral blood single-cell databases, with spatial mapping performed via the gsMap framework. Clinical validation employed qRT-PCR and ELISA on patient blood samples.