International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n1⁄42,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n1⁄43,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombinedo5108) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine–cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist

Randomized Prospective Biomarker Trial of ERCC1 for Comparing Platinum and Nonplatinum Therapy in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer:ERCC1 Trial (ET)

Purpose Retrospective studies indicate that expression of excision repair cross complementing group 1 (ERCC1) protein is associated with platinum resistance and survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We conducted the first randomized trial, to our knowledge, to evaluate ERCC1 prospectively and to assess the superiority of nonplatinum therapy over platinum doublet therapy for ERCC1-positive NSCLC as well as noninferiority for ERCC1-negative NSCLC. Patients and Methods This trial had a marker-by-treatment interaction phase III design, with ERCC1 (8F1 antibody) status as a randomization stratification factor. Chemonaïve patients with NSCLC (stage IIIB and IV) were eligible. Patients with squamous histology were randomly assigned to cisplatin and gemcitabine or paclitaxel and gemcitabine; nonsquamous patients received cisplatin and pemetrexed or paclitaxel and pemetrexed. Primary end point was overall survival (OS). We also evaluated an antibody specific for XPF (clone 3F2). The target hazard ratio (HR) for patients with ERCC1-positive NSCLC was ≤ 0.78. Results Of patients, 648 were recruited (177 squamous, 471 nonsquamous). ERCC1-positive rates were 54.5% and 76.7% in nonsquamous and squamous patients, respectively, and the corresponding XPF-positive rates were 70.5% and 68.5%. Accrual stopped early in 2012 for squamous patients because OS for nonplatinum therapy was inferior to platinum therapy (median OS, 7.6 months [paclitaxel and gemcitabine] v 10.7 months [cisplatin and gemcitabine]; HR, 1.46; P = .02). Accrual for nonsquamous patients halted in 2013. Median OS was 8.0 (paclitaxel and pemetrexed) versus 9.6 (cisplatin and pemetrexed) months for ERCC1-positive patients (HR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.85 to 1.44), and 10.3 (paclitaxel and pemetrexed) versus 11.6 (cisplatin and pemetrexed) months for ERCC1-negative patients (HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.33; interaction P = .64). OS HR was 1.09 (95% CI, 0.83 to 1.44) for XPF-positive patients, and 1.39 (95% CI, 0.90 to 2.15) for XPF-negative patients (interaction P = .35). Neither ERCC1 nor XPF were prognostic: among nonsquamous patients, OS HRs for positive versus negative were ERCC1, 1.11 ( P = .32), and XPF, 1.08 ( P = .55). Conclusion Superior outcomes were observed for patients with squamous histology who received platinum therapy compared with nonplatinum chemotherapy; however, selecting chemotherapy by using commercially available ERCC1 or XPF antibodies did not confer any extra survival benefit.</p

Clinical outcomes and response of patients applying topical therapy for pyoderma gangrenosum: A prospective cohort study

Background: Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an uncommon dermatosis with a limited evidence base for treatment. Objective: We sought to estimate the effectiveness of topical therapies in the treatment of patients with PG. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of UK secondary care patients with a clinical diagnosis of PG that was suitable for topical treatment (recruited between July 2009 and June 2012). Participants received topical therapy after normal clinical practice (primarily topical corticosteroids [classes I-III] and tacrolimus 0.03% or 0.1%). The primary outcome was speed of healing at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included the following: proportion healed by 6 months; time to healing; global assessment; inflammation; pain; quality of life; treatment failure; and recurrence. Results: Sixty-six patients (22-85 years of age) were enrolled. Clobetasol propionate 0.05% was the most commonly prescribed therapy. Overall, 28 of 66 (43.8%) ulcers healed by 6 months. The median time to healing was 145 days (95% confidence interval, 96 days to ∞). Initial ulcer size was a significant predictor of time to healing (hazard ratio, 0.94 [95% confidence interval, 0.88-1.00); P = .043). Four patients (15%) had a recurrence. Limitations: Our study did not include a randomized comparator. Conclusion: Topical therapy is potentially an effective first-line treatment for PG that avoids the possible side effects associated with systemic therapy. It remains unclear whether more severe disease will respond adequately to topical therapy alone

X Chromosome Contribution to the Genetic Architecture of Primary Biliary Cholangitis

Copyright \ua9 2021 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND &amp; AIMS: Genome-wide association studies in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) have failed to find X chromosome (chrX) variants associated with the disease. Here, we specifically explore the chrX contribution to PBC, a sexually dimorphic complex autoimmune disease. METHODS: We performed a chrX-wide association study, including genotype data from 5 genome-wide association studies (from Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, China, and Japan; 5244 case patients and 11,875 control individuals). RESULTS: Single-marker association analyses found approximately 100 loci displaying P &lt; 5 7 10-4, with the most significant being a signal within the OTUD5 gene (rs3027490; P = 4.80 7 10-6; odds ratio [OR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.028-1.88; Japanese cohort). Although the transethnic meta-analysis evidenced only a suggestive signal (rs2239452, mapping within the PIM2 gene; OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.09-1.26; P = 9.93 7 10-8), the population-specific meta-analysis showed a genome-wide significant locus in East Asian individuals pointing to the same region (rs7059064, mapping within the GRIPAP1 gene; P = 6.2 7 10-9; OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.46). Indeed, rs7059064 tags a unique linkage disequilibrium block including 7 genes: TIMM17B, PQBP1, PIM2, SLC35A2, OTUD5, KCND1, and GRIPAP1, as well as a superenhancer (GH0XJ048933 within OTUD5) targeting all these genes. GH0XJ048933 is also predicted to target FOXP3, the main T-regulatory cell lineage specification factor. Consistently, OTUD5 and FOXP3 RNA levels were up-regulated in PBC case patients (1.75- and 1.64-fold, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This work represents the first comprehensive study, to our knowledge, of the chrX contribution to the genetics of an autoimmune liver disease and shows a novel PBC-related genome-wide significant locus