Evaluation of 12 GWAS-drawn SNPs as biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis response to TNF inhibitors. A potential SNP association with response to etanercept

Research in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is increasingly focused on the discovery of biomarkers that could enable personalized treatments. The genetic biomarkers associated with the response to TNF inhibitors (TNFi) are among the most studied. They include 12 SNPs exhibiting promising results in the three largest genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, they still require further validation. With this aim, we assessed their association with response to TNFi in a replication study, and a meta-analysis summarizing all non-redundant data. The replication involved 755 patients with RA that were treated for the first time with a biologic drug, which was either infliximab (n = 397), etanercept (n = 155) or adalimumab (n = 203). Their DNA samples were successfully genotyped with a single-base extension multiplex method. Lamentably, none of the 12 SNPs was associated with response to the TNFi in the replication study (p > 0.05). However, a drug-stratified exploratory analysis revealed a significant association of the NUBPL rs2378945 SNP with a poor response to etanercept (B = -0.50, 95% CI = -0.82, -0.17, p = 0.003). In addition, the meta-analysis reinforced the previous association of three SNPs: rs2378945, rs12142623, and rs4651370. In contrast, five of the remaining SNPs were less associated than before, and the other four SNPs were no longer associated with the response to treatment. In summary, our results highlight the complexity of the pharmacogenetics of TNFi in RA showing that it could involve a drug-specific component and clarifying the status of the 12 GWAS-drawn SNP

Germline determinants of humoral immune response to HPV-16 protect against oropharyngeal cancer

Although several oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) susceptibility loci have been identified, most previous studies lacked detailed information on human papillomavirus (HPV) status. We conduct a genome-wide analysis by HPV16 serology status in 4,002 oral cancer cases (OPC and oral cavity cancer (OCC)) and 5,256 controls. We detect four susceptibility loci pointing to a distinct genetic predisposition by HPV status. Our most notable finding in the HLA region, that is now confirmed to be specific of HPV(+)OPC risk, reveal two independent loci with strong protective effects, one refining the previously reported HLA class II haplotype association. Antibody levels against HPV16 viral proteins strongly implicate the protective HLA variants as major determinants of humoral response against L1 capsid protein or E6 oncoprotein suggesting a natural immune response against HPV(+)OPC promoted by HLA variants. This indicates that therapeutic vaccines that target E6 and attenuate viral response after established HPV infections might protect against HPV(+)OPC

Evaluation of 12 GWAS-drawn SNPs as biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis response to TNF inhibitors. A potential SNP association with response to etanercept

Research in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is increasingly focused on the discovery of biomarkers that could enable personalized treatments. The genetic biomarkers associated with the response to TNF inhibitors (TNFi) are among the most studied. They include 12 SNPs exhibiting promising results in the three largest genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, they still require further validation. With this aim, we assessed their association with response to TNFi in a replication study, and a meta-analysis summarizing all non-redundant data. The replication involved 755 patients with RA that were treated for the first time with a biologic drug, which was either infliximab (n = 397), etanercept (n = 155) or adalimumab (n = 203). Their DNA samples were successfully genotyped with a single-base extension multiplex method. Lamentably, none of the 12 SNPs was associated with response to the TNFi in the replication study (p > 0.05). However, a drug-stratified exploratory analysis revealed a significant association of the NUBPL rs2378945 SNP with a poor response to etanercept (B = -0.50, 95% CI = -0.82, -0.17, p = 0.003). In addition, the meta-analysis reinforced the previous association of three SNPs: rs2378945, rs12142623, and rs4651370. In contrast, five of the remaining SNPs were less associated than before, and the other four SNPs were no longer associated with the response to treatment. In summary, our results highlight the complexity of the pharmacogenetics of TNFi in RA showing that it could involve a drug-specific component and clarifying the status of the 12 GWAS-drawn SNP