Cross-Trait Meta-Analysis Reveals a Genetic Link between Inflammation and Aging in Giant Cell Arteritis.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a complex inflammatory disease affecting individuals over 50 suggesting a strong link with aging-related immune and vascular changes. However, the precise mechanisms underlying this age-related susceptibility remain poorly understood. Considering the relevance of aging in GCA, genetic factors influencing biological aging markers, such as telomere shortening and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), might also contribute to its development.

Genome-wide DNA methylation study reveals specific signatures in the affected arterial tissue of giant cell arteritis patients.

Objectives: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a large-vessel vasculitis, potentially causing complications such as blindness and strokes. This study aims to gain insights into the pathogenesis of GCA by identifying specific DNA methylation signatures in the arterial tissue of patients with this vasculitis.

Methods: DNA methylation profiling was analyzed in 79 temporal artery biopsy samples (69 patients with GCA and 10 controls) by performing an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS).

Cross-trait GWAS in COVID-19 and systemic sclerosis reveals novel genes implicated in fibrotic and inflammation pathways.

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and SSc share multiple similarities in their clinical manifestations, alterations in immune response and therapeutic options. These resemblances have also been identified in other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases where a common genetic component has been found. Thus, we decided to evaluate for the first time this shared genetic architecture with SSc.

Risk loci involved in giant cell arteritis susceptibility: a genome-wide association study.

Background: Giant cell arteritis is an age-related vasculitis that mainly affects the aorta and its branches in individuals aged 50 years and older. Current options for diagnosis and treatment are scarce, highlighting the need to better understand its underlying pathogenesis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have emerged as a powerful tool for unravelling the pathogenic mechanisms involved in complex diseases.

A holistic approach to understanding immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: bioinformatic tools to integrate omics data.

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) comprise a complex group of pathologies with diverse etiologies and clinical manifestations. In particular, omics technologies have remodeled our understanding of a set of IMIDs such as systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs), generating vast amounts of data on the genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome and metabolome of immune cells and SARDs patients. However, the integration of omics data to advance our knowledge of these diseases is challenging, requiring advanced bioinformatic tools.