Nature Communications (May 2023)

Narcolepsy risk loci outline role of T cell autoimmunity and infectious triggers in narcolepsy

  • Hanna M. Ollila,
  • Eilon Sharon,
  • Ling Lin,
  • Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong,
  • Aditya Ambati,
  • Selina M. Yogeshwar,
  • Ryan P. Hillary,
  • Otto Jolanki,
  • Juliette Faraco,
  • Mali Einen,
  • Guo Luo,
  • Jing Zhang,
  • Fang Han,
  • Han Yan,
  • Xiao Song Dong,
  • Jing Li,
  • Jun Zhang,
  • Seung-Chul Hong,
  • Tae Won Kim,
  • Yves Dauvilliers,
  • Lucie Barateau,
  • Gert Jan Lammers,
  • Rolf Fronczek,
  • Geert Mayer,
  • Joan Santamaria,
  • Isabelle Arnulf,
  • Stine Knudsen-Heier,
  • May Kristin Lyamouri Bredahl,
  • Per Medbøe Thorsby,
  • Giuseppe Plazzi,
  • Fabio Pizza,
  • Monica Moresco,
  • Catherine Crowe,
  • Stephen K. Van den Eeden,
  • Michel Lecendreux,
  • Patrice Bourgin,
  • Takashi Kanbayashi,
  • Francisco J. Martínez-Orozco,
  • Rosa Peraita-Adrados,
  • Antonio Benetó,
  • Jacques Montplaisir,
  • Alex Desautels,
  • Yu-Shu Huang,
  • FinnGen,
  • Poul Jennum,
  • Sona Nevsimalova,
  • David Kemlink,
  • Alex Iranzo,
  • Sebastiaan Overeem,
  • Aleksandra Wierzbicka,
  • Peter Geisler,
  • Karel Sonka,
  • Makoto Honda,
  • Birgit Högl,
  • Ambra Stefani,
  • Fernando Morgadinho Coelho,
  • Vilma Mantovani,
  • Eva Feketeova,
  • Mia Wadelius,
  • Niclas Eriksson,
  • Hans Smedje,
  • Pär Hallberg,
  • Per Egil Hesla,
  • David Rye,
  • Zerrin Pelin,
  • Luigi Ferini-Strambi,
  • Claudio L. Bassetti,
  • Johannes Mathis,
  • Ramin Khatami,
  • Adi Aran,
  • Sheela Nampoothiri,
  • Tomas Olsson,
  • Ingrid Kockum,
  • Markku Partinen,
  • Markus Perola,
  • Birgitte R. Kornum,
  • Sina Rueger,
  • Juliane Winkelmann,
  • Taku Miyagawa,
  • Hiromi Toyoda,
  • Seik-Soon Khor,
  • Mihoko Shimada,
  • Katsushi Tokunaga,
  • Manuel Rivas,
  • Jonathan K. Pritchard,
  • Neil Risch,
  • Zoltan Kutalik,
  • Ruth O’Hara,
  • Joachim Hallmayer,
  • Chun Jimmie Ye,
  • Emmanuel J. Mignot

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36120-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) is caused by a loss of hypocretin/orexin transmission. Risk factors include pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza A infection and immunization with Pandemrix®. Here, we dissect disease mechanisms and interactions with environmental triggers in a multi-ethnic sample of 6,073 cases and 84,856 controls. We fine-mapped GWAS signals within HLA (DQ0602, DQB1*03:01 and DPB1*04:02) and discovered seven novel associations (CD207, NAB1, IKZF4-ERBB3, CTSC, DENND1B, SIRPG, PRF1). Significant signals at TRA and DQB1*06:02 loci were found in 245 vaccination-related cases, who also shared polygenic risk. T cell receptor associations in NT1 modulated TRAJ*24, TRAJ*28 and TRBV*4-2 chain-usage. Partitioned heritability and immune cell enrichment analyses found genetic signals to be driven by dendritic and helper T cells. Lastly comorbidity analysis using data from FinnGen, suggests shared effects between NT1 and other autoimmune diseases. NT1 genetic variants shape autoimmunity and response to environmental triggers, including influenza A infection and immunization with Pandemrix®.