Results from a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) in Mastocytosis Reveal New Gene Polymorphisms Associated with WHO Subgroups

Mastocytosis is rare disease in which genetic predisposition is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to analyze associations between mastocytosis and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by a genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach. A total of 234 patients were enrolled in our study, including 141 with cutaneous mastocytosis (CM; 78 children and 63 adults) and 93 with systemic mastocytosis (SM, all adults). The control group consisted of 5606 healthy individuals. DNA samples from saliva or blood were genotyped for 551 945 variants using DNA microarrays. The prevalence of certain SNPs was found to vary substantially when comparing patients and healthy controls: rs10838094 of 5OR51Q1 was less frequently detected in CM and SM patients (OR = 0.2071, p = 2.21 × 10(−29)), rs80138802 in ABCA2 (OR = 5.739, p = 1.98 × 10(−28)), and rs11845537 in OTX2-AS1 (rs11845537, OR = 6.587, p = 6.16 × 10(−17)) were more frequently detected in CM in children and adults. Additionally, we found that rs2279343 in CYP2B6 and rs7601511 in RPTN are less prevalent in CM compared to controls. We identified a number of hitherto unknown associations between certain SNPs and CM and/or SM. Whether these associations are clinically relevant concerning diagnosis, prognosis, or prevention remains to be determined in future studies.