<p>We undertook the first genome-wide association (GWAS) study of apical periodontitis, enrolling 932 patients with deep carious lesions at <a href="https://dentistry.uth.edu/">UTHealth School of Dentistry</a> and the <a href="https://www.dental.pitt.edu/">University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine</a>. We used a case-control design to compare those with apical periodontitis to those without. Genotype data was generated for all participants and imputed using the TOPMed reference panel. We performed a single-variant association testing, a subphenotype analysis, and a genetically regulated expression association analysis, and generated a polygenic risk score and performed phenome-wide association analysis. We identified eight near-genome-wide significant loci for our primary outcome, eight genes where genetically regulated expression was associated with apical periodontitis status, and 33 phecodes that were associated with the generated polygenic risk score. We also replicated three loci previously reported in the literature. Genotype, phenotype, and results from the primary association analysis will be available <i>via</i> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gap/">dbGaP</a>.</p>

Genomic Landscape of Apical Periodontitis

Genome-wide association study identifies novel risk loci for apical periodontitis.