Replication of an Association Between the Lymphoid Tyrosine Phosphatase Locus (LYP/PTPN22) With Type 1 Diabetes, and Evidence for Its Role as a General Autoimmunity Locus
Smyth D., Cooper JD., Collins JE., Heward JM., Franklyn JA., Howson JMM., Vella A., Nutland S., Rance HE., Maier L., Barratt BJ., Guja C., Ionescu-Tı̂rgovişte C., Savage DA., Dunger DB., Widmer B., Strachan DP., Ring SM., Walker N., Clayton DG., Twells RCJ., Gough SCL., Todd JA.
In the genetic analysis of common, multifactorial diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, true positive irrefutable linkage and association results have been rare to date. Recently, it has been reported that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), 1858C>T, in the gene PTPN22, encoding Arg620Trp in the lymphoid protein tyrosine phosphatase (LYP), which has been shown to be a negative regulator of T-cell activation, is associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes. Here, we have replicated these findings in 1,388 type 1 diabetic families and in a collection of 1,599 case and 1,718 control subjects, confirming the association of the PTPN22 locus with type 1 diabetes (family-based relative risk (RR) 1.67 [95% CI 1.46–1.91], and case-control odds ratio (OR) 1.78 [95% CI 1.54–2.06]; overall P = 6.02 × 10−27). We also report evidence for an association of Trp620 with another autoimmune disorder, Graves’ disease, in 1,734 case and control subjects (P = 6.24 × 10−4; OR 1.43 [95% CI 1.17–1.76]). Taken together, these results indicate a more general association of the PTPN22 locus with autoimmune disease.