{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T05:59:11Z","timestamp":1776405551424,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776384000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008131","name":"Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universit\u00e4t Bonn","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Open Access Publication Fund"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Open Access Publication Fund"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008131","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001659","name":"Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["497768231, EXC2151 \u2013 390873048"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["497768231, EXC2151 \u2013 390873048"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001659","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic autoimmune-mediated disorder characterized by hair loss from the scalp and\/or body. AA patients frequently present with comorbid chronic inflammatory disorders (CIDs), particularly atopic and autoimmune diseases. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have suggested a genetic link. However, no studies to date have examined genetic factors that are associated with the comorbid development of CIDs directly in individuals affected by AA.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We performed an exploratory GWA study in Central European AA patients stratified by self-reported comorbidity status (110 to 1,302 cases with- and 1,030 controls without comorbid CIDs). Comorbidities were analyzed first as broad atopic and autoimmune categories and subsequently as individual conditions, including asthma, atopic dermatitis, rhinitis, vitiligo, and Hashimoto\u2019s thyroiditis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      No genome-wide significant signals were identified at either the variant or gene level. At exploratory thresholds (p\n                      <jats:sub>variant<\/jats:sub>\n                      &amp;lt;1x10\n                      <jats:sup>-5<\/jats:sup>\n                      , p\n                      <jats:sub>gene<\/jats:sub>\n                      &amp;lt;0.001), more loci showed potential association with comorbid autoimmunity than with atopy, although the number of implicated genes was comparable. Several identified genes were previously implicated in CID pathogenesis and many loci contained variants with known regulatory effects on gene expression in skin and immune cells. For comorbid atopy\/autoimmunity overall,\n                      <jats:italic>PHF11<\/jats:italic>\n                      was the most frequently implicated gene, consistent with its previously described role in T- and B-cell biology. Network analyses highlighted cytokine, hormone, and transcription factor signaling pathways as potential mechanisms underlying comorbid CID development in AA.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our study provides initial mechanistic insights for comorbid CID development in AA, and a foundation for larger-scale studies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1810658","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T05:22:57Z","timestamp":1776403377000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Genome-wide association study of atopic and autoimmune comorbidities in alopecia areata"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Marisol","family":"Herrera-Rivero","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Genetic Epidemiology, Institute of Human Genetics, and Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of M\u00fcnster; Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment (JICE), University of M\u00fcnster and Bielefeld University","place":["M\u00fcnster, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yasmina","family":"Gossmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine and University Hospital Bonn","place":["Bonn, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Swapnil","family":"Awasthi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charit\u00e9 Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]},{"name":"Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard","place":["Cambridge, MA, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nicole","family":"Cesarato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine and University Hospital Bonn","place":["Bonn, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stephan","family":"Ripke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charit\u00e9 Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]},{"name":"Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard","place":["Cambridge, MA, United States"]},{"name":"German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Berlin\/Potsdam","place":["Berlin, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bettina","family":"Blaumeiser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center of Medical Genetics, University and University Hospital of Antwerp","place":["Antwerp, Belgium"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ulrike","family":"Blume-Peytavi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Charit\u00e9-Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin","place":["Berlin, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gerhard","family":"Lutz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hair and Nail Medicine","place":["Bonn, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Silke","family":"Redler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty and University Hospital D\u00fcsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University D\u00fcsseldorf","place":["D\u00fcsseldorf, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Markus M.","family":"N\u00f6then","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine and University Hospital Bonn","place":["Bonn, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Regina C.","family":"Betz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine and University Hospital Bonn","place":["Bonn, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"F. 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