Genome-wide association study (GWAS) of a Maltese inflammatory bowel disease cohort

Abstract

Background: Whilst most of the early inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) genetic studies were performed on Caucasian subjects, it is now increasingly recognised that different genes might be involved in different populations, especially from different ethnic backgrounds. Prior research in Maltese IBD patients had in fact determined that prevalence of NOD2 polymorphisms was very low, in stark contrast to IBD patients from mainland Europe. Hence, the aim of this study was to genotypically characterise a discovery cohort consisting of Maltese IBD patients. Methods: We conducted a case–control genetic association study using a hypothesis-free approach. Genotyping was carried out on the Illumina Immunochip platform. Results: After strict quality control 93 ulcerative colitis (UC), 160 Crohn's (CD) patients and 188 healthy controls remained. Figure 1 demonstrates no significant population stratification with evidence of several disease associated loci.