Whole-genome association study of antibody response to Epstein-Barr virus in an African population: a pilot

Sallah, N. et al. (2017) Whole-genome association study of antibody response to Epstein-Barr virus in an African population: a pilot. Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics, 2, e18. (doi: 10.1017/gheg.2017.16) (PMID:29868224) (PMCID:PMC5870407)

Abstract

Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infects 95% of the global population and is associated with up to 2% of cancers globally. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody levels to EBV have been shown to be heritable and associated with developing malignancies. We, therefore, performed a pilot genome-wide association analysis of anti-EBV IgG traits in an African population, using a combined approach including array genotyping, whole-genome sequencing and imputation to a panel with African sequence data. In 1562 Ugandans, we identify a variant in ( )- , rs9272371 ( = 2.6 × 10 ) associated with anti-EBV nuclear antigen-1 responses. Trans-ancestry meta-analysis and fine-mapping with European-ancestry individuals suggest the presence of distinct class II variants driving associations in Uganda. In addition, we identify four putative, novel, very rare African-specific loci with preliminary evidence for association with anti-viral capsid antigen IgG responses which will require replication for validation. These findings reinforce the need for the expansion of such studies in African populations with relevant datasets to capture genetic diversity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: t. This GPC is jointly funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the MRC/DFID Concordat agreement. Further funding was obtained from the Wellcome Trust (WT098051 and WT090132), the UK Medical Research Council and with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. HHSN261200800001E.
• Keywords: Africa, Epstein-Barr virus, genomics, immunity, infectious disease.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wakeham, Dr Katie
• Authors: Sallah, N., Carstensen, T., Wakeham, K., Bagni, R., Labo, N., Pollard, M. O., Gurdasani, D., Ekoru, K., Pomilla, C., Young, E. H., Fatumo, S., Asiki, G., Kamali, A., Sandhu, M., Kellam, P., Whitby, D., Barroso, I., and Newton, R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 2054-4200
• ISSN (Online): 2054-4200
• Published Online: 27 November 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics 2: e18
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License