The following is a summary of “A Polygenic Risk Score for Predicting Racial and Genetic Susceptibility to Prurigo Nodularis,” published in the November 2023 issue of Dermatology by Vasavda, et al.
Prurigo nodularis (PN) is an inflammatory skin disease with itchy, thickened skin lumps that have not been studied much. Finding the genetic factors that cause PN could help them understand how it happens and guide the creation of new treatments. In this study, The Researchers created a polygenic risk score that can predict PN (OR = 1.41, P = 1.6 × 10-5) in two separate groups from different continents.
They also did GWASs and found genetic variants linked to PN. One was near PLCB4 (rs6039266: OR = 3.15, P = 4.8 × 10-8) and two others were near TXNRD1 (rs34217906: OR = 1.71, P = 6.4 × 10-7; rs7134193: OR = 1.57, P = 1.1 × 10-6). Finally, they found that Black patients have a genetic risk that is over two times higher for getting PN (OR = 2.63, P = 7.8 × 10-4). When the polygenic risk score and self-reported race were put together, they were able to predict PN very well (OR = 1.32, P = 4.7 × 10-3).
Surprisingly, the link was stronger when race was taken into account than when DNA background was considered. Because race is a social and cultural idea and not something that is determined by genes, their results show that genetics, the environment, and social factors that affect health may all play a role in the development of PN and may help explain why there are differences between races in the healthcare system.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022202X23021255
