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BackgroundGenome wide association studies (GWAS) have proven useful as a method for identifying genetic variations associated with diseases. In this study, we analyzed GWAS data for 61 diseases and phenotypes to elucidate common associations based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). The study was an expansion on a previous study on identifying disease associations via data from a single GWAS on seven diseases.Methodology/Principal FindingsAdjustments to the originally reported study included expansion of the SNP dataset using Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) and refinement of the four levels of analysis to encompass SNP, SNP block, gene, and pathway level comparisons. A pair-wise comparison between diseases and phenotypes was performed at each level and the Jaccard similarity index was used to measure the degree of association between two diseases/phenotypes. Disease relatedness networks (DRNs) were used to visualize our results. We saw predominant relatedness between Multiple Sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis for the first three levels of analysis. Expected relatedness was also seen between lipid- and blood-related traits.Conclusions/SignificanceThe predominant associations between Multiple Sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis can be validated by clinical studies. The diseases have been proposed to share a systemic inflammation phenotype that can result in progression of additional diseases in patients with one of these three diseases. We also noticed unexpected relationships between metabolic and neurological diseases at the pathway comparison level. The less significant relationships found between diseases require a more detailed literature review to determine validity of the predictions. The results from this study serve as a first step towards a better understanding of seemingly unrelated diseases and phenotypes with similar symptoms or modes of treatment.

Two swine paramyxoviruses (SPMV)-(81-19252 (Texas-81) and 92-7783 (ISU-92)-were isolated from encephalitic pigs in the United States in 1981 and 1992. Antigenic, morphologic, and biological characteristics of these two viruses were essentially similar to members of the family Paramyxoviridae. Antigenic analysis by indirect fluorescent antibody, immunoblot, and one-way cross-neutralization tests placed these viruses along with bovine parainfluenza 3 (BPIV3) viruses. Purified virions were 50-300 nm in size and morphologically indistinguishable from other paramyxoviruses. These two viruses hemagglutinated red blood cells and had neuraminidase activity. The gene junctions of fusion (F) and hemagglutinin (HN) glycoprotein genes of these viruses contained highly conserved transcription start and stop signal sequences and trinucleotide intergenic regions similar to other Paramyxoviridae. The F gene of ISU-92 was longer than Texas-81 due to insertion of a 24-nucleotide "U"-rich 3' untranslated region. Structure-based sequence alignment of glycoproteins of these two SPMVs indicated that they are essentially similar in structure and function to parainfluenzaviruses. The Texas-81 strain was closely related to BPIV3 Shipping Fever (SF) strain at nucleotide and amino acid level, while the ISU-92 strain was more closely related to BPIV3 910N strain. The envelope glycoproteins of ISU-92 had only approximately 92 and approximately 96% identity at nucleotide and amino acid levels with BPIV3-SF strain, respectively. The high sequence identities to BPIV3 indicated cross-species infection in pigs. Phylogenetic analyses based on both F protein and HN protein suggested the classification of these viruses into the subfamily Paramyxovirinae, genus Respirovirus, and genotype A of BPIV3.