Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40208878›Full record

ArticlePLoS genetics2025

The identification of blood-derived response eQTLs reveals complex effects of regulatory variants on inflammatory and infectious disease risk.

Claire Liefferinckx, David Stern, Hélène Perée, Jérémie Bottieau, Alice Mayer, Christophe Dubussy, Eric Quertinmont, Vjola Tafciu, Charlotte Minsart, Vyacheslav Petrov and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS genetics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Claire LiefferinckxCenter for the study of IBD, Laboratory of Experimental Gastroenterology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2046-4051
David SternGIGA Bioinformatics Platform, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Hélène PeréeUnit of Animal Genomics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0751-6195
Jérémie BottieauCenter for the study of IBD, Laboratory of Experimental Gastroenterology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1268-5142
Alice MayerGIGA Bioinformatics Platform, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6859-0612
Christophe DubussyUnit of Animal Genomics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8752-5816
Eric QuertinmontDepartment of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology, and Digestive Oncology, HUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Vjola TafciuDepartment of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology, and Digestive Oncology, HUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Charlotte MinsartCenter for the study of IBD, Laboratory of Experimental Gastroenterology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Vyacheslav PetrovUnit of Animal Genomics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Alex KvaszSoftware development, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Wouter CoppietersGIGA Genomics Platform, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Latifa KarimGIGA Genomics Platform, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Souad RahmouniUnit of Animal Genomics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Michel GeorgesUnit of Animal Genomics, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Denis FranchimontCenter for the study of IBD, Laboratory of Experimental Gastroenterology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hundreds of risk loci for immune mediated inflammatory and infectious diseases have been identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Yet, what causal variants and genes in risk loci underpin the observed associations remains poorly understood for most. The identification of colocalized cis-expression Quantitative Trait Loci (cis-eQTLs) is a promising way to identify candidate causative genes. The catalogue of cis-eQTLs of the immune system is likely incomplete as many cis-eQTLs may be context-specific. We built a large cohort of 406 healthy individuals and expanded the immune cis-regulome through their whole blood transcriptome obtained after stimulation with specific toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists and T-cell receptor (TCR) antagonist. We report three mechanisms that may explain why an eQTL could only be revealed after immune stimulation. More than half of the cis-eQTLs detected in this study would have been overlooked without specific immune stimulations. We then mined this new catalogue of response (r)eQTLs, with public GWAS summary statistics of three diseases through a colocalization approach: inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19 disease. We identified reQTL-specific colocalizations for risk loci for which no matching eQTL were reported before, revealing interesting new candidate causal genes.

Indexed as

Arthritis, RheumatoidCommunicable DiseasesCOVID-19InflammationInflammatory Bowel DiseasesQuantitative Trait LociFemaleGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansMalePolymorphism, Single NucleotideSARS-CoV-2Toll-Like ReceptorsTranscriptomeToll-Like Receptors

Identifiers

PMID40208878
PMCPMC12013874

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.