Genome-wide association study does not reveal major genetic determinants for anti-cytomegalovirus antibody response

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) causes an infection, which is followed by a lifelong latency. CMV has received much attention in clinical studies, but little is known about the genetic basis of this common infection. To identify genetic polymorphisms associated with the susceptibility to and strength of anti-CMV immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to CMV infection, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using an Illumina BeadChip containing 670 000 probes and participants from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, including 1486 anti-CMV IgG seropositive and 648 seronegative individuals. Statistical analyses were performed using logistic (for susceptibility) and linear regression (for strength of antibody response). None of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was found to be associated with susceptibility to CMV infection at the level of genome-wide significance (Po5 Â 10 À8). Also, none of the association signals identified reached genome-wide levels of statistical significance in the study of the strength of the antibody response to CMV although five SNPs in AGBL1 gene region displayed a suggestive association (lowest P-value ¼ 1.86 Â 10 À6 ). The results indicate that there is no strong evidence of major host genetic factors involved in either susceptibility to or the strength of antibody response to human CMV infection.

Genetic variation in Micro-RNA genes of host genome affects clinical manifestation of symptomatic Human Cytomegalovirus infection

“…The present study finds the association of genetic variants of three miRNA tag-SNPs namely rs2910164, rs11614913 and rs3746444 with symptomatic HCMV infection. However, our study does not collaborate with the findings of GWAS study as it has been conducted on atherosclerosis cases in Finnish children and young adults [22]. These differences may be due to the disease etiology and ethnicity related factors.…”

“…Recent genome wide association study of tag-SNPs and susceptibility to HCMV does not reveal major genetic determinants for anti-cytomegalovirus antibody response and no single SNPs were found to be associated with susceptibility to HCMV diseases [22]. The present study finds the association of genetic variants of three miRNA tag-SNPs namely rs2910164, rs11614913 and rs3746444 with symptomatic HCMV infection.…”

Cytomegalovirus seropositivity is associated with glucose regulation in the oldest old. Results from the Leiden 85-plus Study

“…Although CMV antibody level has been reported to associate with mortality among community-dwelling older adults [37,38], it is still unclear what the clinical implications of CMV antibody level on the onset of diseases may be and what the effect of chronological age on CMV antibody level is [39,40]. Recently, CMV antibody level has been reported not to be related to any major genetic determinants either [41]. …”

Hepatitis C Viremia Is Associated with Cytomegalovirus IgG Antibody Levels in HIV-Infected Women

“…It is also possible that the same host genetic factors influence both HCV clearance and CMV IgG levels. Genetic associations with HCV clearance have been extensively studied (reviewed in [35]), but we are not aware of any strong genetic associations with CMV IgG [36].…”