Logo image
Common genetic susceptibility loci link PFAPA syndrome, Behçet's disease, and recurrent aphthous stomatitis
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Common genetic susceptibility loci link PFAPA syndrome, Behçet's disease, and recurrent aphthous stomatitis

Kalpana Manthiram, Silvia Preite, Fatma Dedeoglu, Selcan Demir, Seza Ozen, Kathryn M Edwards, Sivia Lapidus, Alexander E Katz, Henry M Feder Jr, Maranda Lawton, …
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.117(25), pp.14405-14411
06/23/2020
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2002051117
PMID: 32518111
url
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002051117View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome is the most common periodic fever syndrome in children. The disease appears to cluster in families, but the pathogenesis is unknown. We queried two European-American cohorts and one Turkish cohort (total = 231) of individuals with PFAPA for common variants previously associated with two other oropharyngeal ulcerative disorders, Behçet's disease and recurrent aphthous stomatitis. In a metaanalysis, we found that a variant upstream of (rs17753641) is strongly associated with PFAPA (OR 2.13, = 6 × 10 ). We demonstrated that monocytes from individuals who are heterozygous or homozygous for this risk allele produce significantly higher levels of IL-12p70 upon IFN-γ and LPS stimulation than those from individuals without the risk allele. We also found that variants near , , and were significant susceptibility loci for PFAPA, suggesting that the pathogenesis of PFAPA involves abnormal antigen-presenting cell function and T cell activity and polarization, thereby implicating both innate and adaptive immune responses at the oropharyngeal mucosa. Our results illustrate genetic similarities among recurrent aphthous stomatitis, PFAPA, and Behçet's disease, placing these disorders on a common spectrum, with recurrent aphthous stomatitis on the mild end, Behçet's disease on the severe end, and PFAPA intermediate. We propose naming these disorders Behçet's spectrum disorders to highlight their relationship. alleles may be factors that influence phenotypes along this spectrum as we found new class I and II associations for PFAPA distinct from Behçet's disease and recurrent aphthous stomatitis.
Genetic Predisposition to Disease Humans Risk Factors Genes, MHC Class I - genetics Lymphadenitis - immunology Genes, MHC Class II - immunology Lymphadenitis - genetics Syndrome Pharyngitis - genetics Genes, MHC Class II - genetics Genetic Loci - immunology Stomatitis, Aphthous - genetics Stomatitis, Aphthous - immunology Genes, MHC Class I - immunology Alleles Fever - genetics Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide Behcet Syndrome - genetics Fever - immunology Child Behcet Syndrome - immunology Cohort Studies Pharyngitis - immunology

Details

Logo image