Research article

Single nucleotide polymorphism-based genome-wide linkage analysis in Japanese atopic dermatitis families

Hisako Enomoto^1,3 , Emiko Noguchi¹ , Shigeruko Iijima² , Takenori Takahashi³ , Kazuhito Hayakawa⁴ , Mikako Ito⁵ , Toshiyuki Kano⁶ , Takeshi Aoki⁷ , Yoichi Suzuki⁸ , Minori Koga¹ , Mayumi Tamari⁹ , Tetsuo Shiohara⁴ , Fujio Otsuka³ and Tadao Arinami¹

¹  Department of Medical Genetics, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan

²  Mito Saiseikai General Hospital, Japan

³  Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan

⁴  Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

⁵  Mito Red Cross Hospital, Japan

⁶  Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital, Japan

⁷  Department of Pediatrics, Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, Japan

⁸  Department of Public Health, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

⁹  Laboratory of Genetics of Allergic Disease, RIKEN SNP Research Center, Yokohama, Japan

author email corresponding author email

BMC Dermatology 2007, 7:5doi:10.1186/1471-5945-7-5

Published:	28 September 2007

Abstract

Background

Atopic dermatitis develops as a result of complex interactions between several genetic and environmental factors. To date, 4 genome-wide linkage studies of atopic dermatitis have been performed in Caucasian populations, however, similar studies have not been done in Asian populations. The aim of this study was to identify chromosome regions linked to atopic dermatitis in a Japanese population.

Methods

We used a high-density, single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping assay, the Illumina BeadArray Linkage Mapping Panel (version 4) comprising 5,861 single nucleotide polymorphisms, to perform a genome-wide linkage analysis of 77 Japanese families with 111 affected sib-pairs with atopic dermatitis.

Results

We found suggestive evidence for linkage with 15q21 (LOD = 2.01, NPL = 2.87, P = .0012) and weak linkage to 1q24 (LOD = 1.26, NPL = 2.44, P = .008).

Conclusion

We report the first genome-wide linkage study of atopic dermatitis in an Asian population, and novel loci on chromosomes 15q21 and 1q24 linked to atopic dermatitis. Identification of novel causative genes for atopic dermatitis will advance our understanding of the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis.