Food Allergy Genetics and Epigenetics: A Review of Genome-Wide Association Studies

Aleix Arnau-Soler; Bénédicte L Tremblay; Yidan Sun; Anne-Marie Madore; Mathieu Simard; Elin T G Kersten; Ahla Ghauri; Ingo Marenholz; Thomas Eiwegger; Elinor Simons; Edmond S Chan; Kari Nadeau; Vanitha Sampath; Bruce D Mazer; Susan Elliott; Christine Hampson; Lianne Soller; Andrew Sandford; Philippe Begin; Jennie Hui; Bethany F Wilken; Jennifer Gerdts; Adrienn Bourkas; Anne K Ellis; Denitsa Vasileva; Ann Clarke; Aida Eslami; Moshe Ben-Shoshan; David Martino; Denise Daley; Gerard H Koppelman; Catherine Laprise; Young-Ae Lee; Yuka Asai

doi:10.1111/all.16429

Food Allergy Genetics and Epigenetics: A Review of Genome-Wide Association Studies

Allergy. 2024 Dec 19. doi: 10.1111/all.16429. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Aleix Arnau-Soler^{1

2

3

4}, Bénédicte L Tremblay⁵, Yidan Sun^{6

7}, Anne-Marie Madore⁵, Mathieu Simard⁵, Elin T G Kersten^{6

7}, Ahla Ghauri^{1

2

3

4}, Ingo Marenholz^{1

2

3}, Thomas Eiwegger^{8

9

10

11

12}, Elinor Simons¹³, Edmond S Chan¹⁴, Kari Nadeau¹⁵, Vanitha Sampath¹⁵, Bruce D Mazer¹⁶, Susan Elliott¹⁷, Christine Hampson¹⁸, Lianne Soller¹⁴, Andrew Sandford^{19

20}, Philippe Begin^{21

22}, Jennie Hui²³, Bethany F Wilken²⁴, Jennifer Gerdts²⁵, Adrienn Bourkas²⁴, Anne K Ellis²⁶, Denitsa Vasileva^{19

20}, Ann Clarke²⁷, Aida Eslami²⁸, Moshe Ben-Shoshan²⁹, David Martino³⁰, Denise Daley^{19

20}, Gerard H Koppelman^{6

7}, Catherine Laprise⁵, Young-Ae Lee^{1

2

3

4}, Yuka Asai³¹

Affiliations

¹ Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany.
² Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³ Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a Joint Cooperation of Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ), Berlin, Germany.
⁵ Département Des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Saguenay, Quebec, Canada.
⁶ Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergology, University Medical Center Groningen, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
⁷ University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), Groningen, the Netherlands.
⁸ Translational Medicine Program, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Department of Immunology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems an der Donau, Austria.
¹¹ Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital St. Pölten, St. Pölten, Austria.
¹² Department of Paediatrics, Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Program, the Hospital for Sick Children, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Section of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Department of Pediatrics & Child Health, University of Manitoba, Children's Hospital Research Institute, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
¹⁴ Division of Allergy, Department of Pediatrics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Environmental Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁶ Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁷ Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁸ The Sandbox Project, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁹ Department of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
²⁰ Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
²¹ Department of Pediatrics, Service of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
²² Department of Medicine, Service of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
²³ School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
²⁴ School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
²⁵ Food Allergy Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
²⁶ Division of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
²⁷ Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
²⁸ Département de médecine Sociale et préventive, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada.
²⁹ Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Montréal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
³⁰ Wal-Yan Respiratory Research Centre, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Australia.
³¹ Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 39698764
DOI: 10.1111/all.16429

Abstract

In this review, we provide an overview of food allergy genetics and epigenetics aimed at clinicians and researchers. This includes a brief review of the current understanding of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, inheritance of food allergy, as well as a discussion of advantages and limitations of the different types of studies in genetic research. We specifically focus on the results of genome-wide association studies in food allergy, which have identified 16 genetic variants that reach genome-wide significance, many of which overlap with other allergic diseases, including asthma, atopic dermatitis, and allergic rhinitis. Identified genes for food allergy are mainly involved in epithelial barrier function (e.g., FLG, SERPINB7) and immune function (e.g., HLA, IL4). Epigenome-wide significant findings at 32 loci are also summarized as well as 14 additional loci with significance at a false discovery of < 1 × 10^-4. Integration of epigenetic and genetic data is discussed in the context of disease mechanisms, many of which are shared with other allergic diseases. The potential utility of genetic and epigenetic discoveries is deliberated. In the future, genetic and epigenetic markers may offer ways to predict the presence or absence of clinical IgE-mediated food allergy among sensitized individuals, likelihood of development of natural tolerance, and response to immunotherapy.

Keywords: allergy; epigenetics; food allergy; genetics; inheritance.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding