Endocrine Abstracts

Genome wide association (GWA) studies have revolutionised the search for new susceptibility loci for complex diseases such as Graves’ disease (GD), by confirming association of known genes and identifying several novel susceptibility loci. The high density lipoprotein binding protein (HDLBP) on chromosome 2q37 is one such novel locus recently identified by the WTCCC as part of a 14 500 nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) screen performed in 900 UK C...

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) have been shown to share a series of genetic susceptibility loci, including the HLA class II region, CTLA-4 and PTPN22, indicating the sharing of key pathways between diseases. Recently, the rs1801274 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within the Fc gamma receptor 2a gene (FcGR2a) has been shown to be associated with several common AIDs including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coeliac disease. FcGR2a is an immune mod...

Identifying the pathogenic pathways involved in complex diseases such as Graves’ disease (GD) has proved challenging. Although several genetic risk factors, including the HLA class II region, CTLA4, PTPN22 and CD25, encode molecules playing key roles in antigen presentation and controlling T cell recognition/signalling, the identification of novel susceptibility loci has the potential to provide further insights into disease pathogenesis. Recently gen...