Genetic Contributions of Lupus Nephritis in A Multi-Ethnic Cohort

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and it occurs at a much higher rate in patients that are not of European descent. The purpose of this study is to identify genetic variants contributing to the risk of LN in a multi-ethnic cohort of SLE patients. We used a comprehensive genome-wide screen and 1244 SLE patients from 5 different ethnic groups. In genome-wide gene-based and candidate SNP analyses, we found distinct genes and pathways, and established risk SNPs associated with lupus nephritis for each ethnic group. This study represents progress in elucidating the genetic underpinnings driving LN among SLE patients of different ethnic groups.]]>
SLE cases were included in the study if they met the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) revised classification criteria for SLE. We included the SLE patients who reported their ethnicity to be one of the five ethnic groups studied: East Asian, Hispanic, North European, South European and African American. SLE patients who are positive for LN were treated as cases, and the SLE patients who are negative for LN were treated as the controls in this study. LN status was also determined by ACR classification.]]>
The majority of the participants in the Genetic Contributions of Lupus Nephritis in a Multi-ethnic Cohort of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) study are part of the Lupus Genetics Research Project at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). For the Lupus Genetics Research Project, lupus patients were recruited nationwide and through rheumatology clinics at UCSF and rheumatology practices in the San Francisco area. Participants in the Lupus Genetics Project have been studied in candidate gene and genome-wide association studies of SLE. The remaining participants were included from established SLE cohorts from collaborators at University of California Los Angeles, University of Granada, and Monash University. ]]>