We performed a second-generation genome wide association study of 4,533 celiac disease cases and 10,750 controls. We genotyped 113 selected SNPs with PGWAS<10−4, and 18 SNPs from 14 known loci, in a further 4,918 cases and 5,684 controls. Variants from 13 new regions reached genome wide significance (Pcombined<5×10−8), most contain immune function genes (BACH2, CCR4, CD80, CIITA/SOCS1/CLEC16A, ICOSLG, ZMIZ1) with ETS1, RUNX3, THEMIS and TNFRSF14 playing key roles in thymic T cell selection. A further 13 regions had suggestive association evidence. In an expression quantitative trait meta-analysis of 1,469 whole blood samples, 20 of 38 (52.6%) tested loci had celiac risk variants correlated (P<0.0028, FDR 5%) with cis gene expression.

We densely genotyped, using 1000 Genomes Project pilot CEU and additional re-sequencing study variants, 183 reported immune-mediated disease non-HLA risk loci in 12,041 celiac disease cases and 12,228 controls. We identified 13 new celiac disease risk loci at genome wide significance, bringing the total number of known loci (including HLA) to 40. Multiple independent association signals are found at over a third of these loci, attributable to a combination of common, low frequency, and rare genetic variants. In comparison with previously available data such as HapMap3, our dense genotyping in a large sample size provided increased resolution of the pattern of linkage disequilibrium, and suggested localization of many signals to finer scale regions. In particular, 29 of 54 fine-mapped signals appeared localized to specific single genes - and in some instances to gene regulatory elements. We define a complex genetic architecture of risk regions, and refine risk signals, providing a next step towards elucidating causal disease mechanisms.

We investigated several phenotypic and functional parameters of T cell-mediated immunity in a large series of common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients. We demonstrated that the vast majority of CVID patients presented multiple T cell abnormalities intimately related among them, the severity of which was reflected in a parallel loss of CD4+ naive T cells. A strong correlation between the number of CD4+ naive T cells and clinical features was observed, supporting the subgrouping of patients according to their number of naive CD4+ T lymphocytes. A reduced thymic output and disrupted CD4+ and CD8+ TCR repertoires paralleled the contraction of CD4+ naive T cell pools. The evaluation of activation markers and cytokine production indicated a strong T cell activation that was significantly related to the increased levels of T cell turnover and apoptosis. Finally, discrete genetic profiles could be demonstrated in groups of patients showing extremely diverse T cell subset composition and function. Naive CD4+ T cell levels were significantly associated with the switched memory B cell-based classification, although the concordance between the respective subgroups did not exceed 58.8%. In conclusion, our data highlight the key role played by the T cell compartment in the pathogenesis of CVID, pointing to the need to consider this aspect for classification of this disease.

Polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) are myeloproliferative neoplasms with variable risk of evolution into post-PV and post-ET myelofibrosis, from now on referred to as secondary myelofibrosis (SMF). No specific tools have been defined for risk stratification in SMF. To develop a prognostic model for predicting survival, we studied 685 JAK2, CALR, and MPL annotated patients with SMF. Median survival of the whole cohort was 9.3 years (95% CI: 8-not reached-NR-). Through penalized Cox regressions we identified negative predictors of survival and according to beta risk coefficients we assigned 2 points to hemoglobin level <11 g/dl, to circulating blasts ⩾3%, and to CALR-unmutated genotype, 1 point to platelet count <150 × 10/l and to constitutional symptoms, and 0.15 points to any year of age. Myelofibrosis Secondary to PV and ET-Prognostic Model (MYSEC-PM) allocated SMF patients into four risk categories with different survival (P<0.0001): low (median survival NR; 133 patients), intermediate-1 (9.3 years, 95% CI: 8.1-NR; 245 patients), intermediate-2 (4.4 years, 95% CI: 3.2-7.9; 126 patients), and high risk (2 years, 95% CI: 1.7-3.9; 75 patients). Finally, we found that the MYSEC-PM represents the most appropriate tool for SMF decision-making to be used in clinical and trial settings.

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