press_release_conclusion: Researchers are one step closer to understanding how an individual’s genetic make-up predisposes them to Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a common auto-immune arthritis which causes pain and stiffness of the spine, and in serious cases, progressive fusion of the vertebrae and other affected joints.
abstract_conclusion: Here we report the identification of three variants in the RUNX3, LTBR-TNFRSF1A and IL12B regions convincingly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (P -8 in the combined discovery and replication datasets) and a further four loci at PTGER4, TBKBP1, ANTXR2 and CARD9 that show strong association across all our datasets (P -6 overall, with support in each of the three datasets studied).