Association analyses identifying two common susceptibility loci shared by psoriasis and systemic lupus erythematosus in the Chinese Han population

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have revealed a large number of genetic risk loci for many autoimmune diseases. One clear finding emerging from the published genetic studies of autoimmunity is that different autoimmune diseases share susceptibility loci, such as psoriasis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), share susceptibility loci. To identify additional susceptibility loci shared by psoriasis and SLE, we explored not only whether previously reported psoriasis susceptibility genes (NHGRI GWAS Catalog) are shared by SLE, but also whether previously reported SLE susceptibility genes (NHGRI GWAS Catalog) are also psoriasis susceptibility genes in the Chinese Han population. Our study identifies two common susceptibility loci (NFKBIA and IL28RA) that are shared by psoriasis and SLE in the Chinese Han population. Exploring the shared genetic basis of autoimmune diseases could reveal key common pathways and identify therapeutic targets that may be applied to more than one disease. (By Dr Xue-jun Zhang, http://jmg.bmj.com/content/early/2013/09/26/jmedgenet-2013-101787 )