Ellinghaus et al (2010) performed a genome-wide association analysis of over 2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 472 psoriasis vulgaris cases and 1 146 controls from Germany, tracing the 147 most significant SNPs in 2 746 psoriasis vulgaris cases and 4 140 controls from three independent replication panels. The authors identified an association at TRAF3IP2 on 6q21 and genotyped 2 SNPs at this locus. Approximately 15% of psoriasis cases develop psoriatic arthritis. Stratified analysis of their datasets, which included only psoriatic arthritis cases (1 922 cases versus 8 037 controls, P = 4.57 x 10(-12) for rs33980500), suggested that TRAF3IP2 represents a common susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis. TRAF3IP2 encodes a protein involved in interleukin-17 signaling that interacts with members of the Rel/NF-kappa-B transcription factor family. An association with HLA-Cw6 was not detectable.
Huffmeier et al (2010) performed a genome-wide association study in 609 German individuals with psoriatic arthritis and 990 controls, which was replicated in 6 European cohorts totaling 5,488 individuals. The authors replicated associations with psoriatic arthritis in HLA-C (177900) and IL12B (612599). Furthermore, they identified a novel association in TRAF3IP2 (rs13190932, P = 8.56 x 10(-17)). TRAF3IP2 was also associated with psoriasis vulgaris in a German cohort of 2 040 individuals. Sequencing of the exons of TRAF3IP2 identified a coding variant, rs33980500, (asp10 to asn) as the most strongly associated SNP (P = 1.13 x 10(-20), odds ratio = 1.95). Functional assays showed reduced binding of this TRAF3IP2 variant to TRAF6 (602355), suggesting altered modulation of immunoregulatory signals through altered TRAF interactions as a novel and common pathway for psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis vulgaris.