Background/Purpose: The G1 and G2 coding variants in the apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1; G1: a compound missense allele (glycine-342/methionine-384) and G2: an in-frame deletion (deletion of asparagine-388 and tyrosine-389)), are strongly and reproducibly associated with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), HIV-associated collapsing glomerulopathy, and hypertension-attributed end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in African Americans (AAs) [Genovese G et al. Science 329:841,2010; Tzur S et al. Hum Genet 128:345,2010]. The role of APOL1 in lupus nephritis (LN) related ESRD is unexplored. We tested for association between APOL1risk variants and LN-ESRD in a national sample of unrelated AAs with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Methods: The study sample included 668 AA cases with LN-ESRD (456 with kidney biopsy documentation; 212 physician-reported) and 697 AA patients with longstanding SLE lacking LN (mean duration of disease: 10.1 years). Genotyping was performed on a Sequenom platform. Allele frequency differences between LN-ESRD cases and SLE non-nephropathy cases were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression models, adjusting for non-muscle myosin heavy chain 9 gene single nucleotide polymorphism rs4821480 using a recessive genetic model.
Results: In cases with LN-ESRD, 87.1% were female, 89% received cytotoxic therapy, mean + SD age at SLE onset was 26.6 + 0.4 years, and duration of SLE to ESRD was 7.2 + 0.3 years with median at 5 years. In non-nephritis SLE patients, 93.5% were female with age at SLE onset 35.2 + 0.8 years. Contrasting all cases with and without ESRD, APOL1 risk variants were significantly associated with LN-ESRD (odds ratio 2.35 (1.77-3.3 95% CI); p=4.25E-9); significant differences in association were not observed when comparing cases with or without kidney biopsy documentation to SLE patients without LN. The duration of SLE onset to ESRD for those with the G1/G2 variants was 5.49+/-0.54 (median=4) years, while that for those without the variants was 7.78+/-0.37 (median=6) years, p<0.05.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates strong association between both APOL1 G1 and G2 variants and LN-associated ESRD in AAs. It appears likely that APOL1 G1 and G2 coding variants, which are rare in European populations, contribute to nephropathy progression in LN-ESRD, as well as in FSGS and other non-diabetic etiologies of ESRD. These variants, and their higher prevalence in individuals with African ancestry, may explain, in part, disparities in clinical outcomes in LN with there being a higher prevalence of severe LN in AA.
Disclosure:
R. P. Kimberly,
None;
B. I. Freedman,
None;
C. D. Langfeld,
None;
D. Absher,
None;
K. K. Andringa,
None;
D. Birmingham,
None;
E. E. Brown,
None;
M. E. Comeau,
None;
K. H. Costenbader,
None;
L. A. Criswell,
None;
J. C. Edberg,
None;
J. B. Harley,
None;
J. A. James,
None;
D. L. Kamen,
None;
J. T. Merrill,
None;
T. B. Niewold,
None;
N. Patel,
None;
M. Petri,
None;
R. Ramsey-Goldman,
None;
J. E. Salmon,
None;
M. Segal,
None;
K. Moser Sivils,
None;
B. P. Tsao,
None;
B. A. Julian,
None;
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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/apolipoprotein-l1-risk-variants-underlie-racial-disparities-in-lupus-nephritis-induced-end-stage-renal-disease/