A candidate gene study reveals association between a variant of the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma (PPAR-?) gene and systemic sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: The multifunctional nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-?) has potent anti-fibrotic effects, and its expression and activity are impaired in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). We investigated PPAR-? gene (PPARG) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with SSc.Tag SNPs spanning PPARG were genotyped in a European ancestry US discovery cohort comprising 152 SSc patients and 450 controls, with replication of our top signal in a European cohort (1031 SSc patients and 1014 controls from France). Clinical parameters and disease severity were analyzed to evaluate clinical associations with PPARG variants.In the discovery cohort, a single PPARG intronic SNP (rs10865710) was associated with SSc (p=0.010; odds ratio=1.52 per C allele, 95% confidence interval 1.10-2.08). This association was replicated in the French validation cohort (p=0.052; odds ratio=1.16 per C allele, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.35). Meta-analysis of both cohorts indicated stronger evidence for association (p=0.002; odds ratio=1.22 per C allele, 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.40). The rs10865710 C allele was also associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension in the French SSc cohort (p=0.002; odds ratio=2.33 per C allele, 95% confidence interval 1.34-4.03).A PPARG variant is associated with susceptibility to SSc, consistent with a role of PPAR-? in the pathogenesis of SSc.

SUBMITTER: Marangoni RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4437446 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature