Genome-wide scan identifies variant in TNFSF13 associated with serum IgM in a healthy Chinese male population

PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e47990. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047990. Epub 2012 Oct 31.

Abstract

IgM provides a first line of defense during microbial infections. Serum IgM levels are detected routinely in clinical practice. And IgM is a genetically complex trait. We conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic variants affecting serum IgM levels in a Chinese population of 3495, including 1999 unrelated subjects in the first stage and 1496 independent individuals in the second stage. Our data show that a common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs11552708 located in the TNFSF13 gene was significantly associated with IgM levels (p = 5.00×10(-7) in first stage, p = 1.34×10(-3) in second stage, and p = 4.22×10(-9) when combined). Besides, smoking was identified to be associated with IgM levels in both stages (P<0.05), but there was no significant interaction between smoking and the identified SNP (P>0.05). It is suggested that TNFSF13 may be a susceptibility gene affecting serum IgM levels in Chinese male population.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • China
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Genotype
  • Health
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin M / blood*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide*
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor Ligand Superfamily Member 13 / genetics*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Immunoglobulin M
  • TNFSF13 protein, human
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor Ligand Superfamily Member 13

Grants and funding

The work described in this article is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 30945204), the Provincial departments of Finance and Education, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (grants 2009GJCJ150 and 201012MS060, and the Guangxi Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars 2012GXNSFFA060009). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.