Genetic Association of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis With Adult Rheumatic Disease

Patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) may develop adult rheumatic diseases later in life, and prolonged or recurrent disease activity is often associated with substantial disability; therefore, it is important to identify patients with JIA at high risk of developing adult rheumatic diseases and provide specialized attention and preventive care to them.

To elucidate the full extent of the genetic association of JIA with adult rheumatic diseases, to improve treatment strategies and patient outcomes for patients at high risk of developing long-term rheumatic diseases.

In this genetic association study of 4 disease genome-wide association study (GWAS) cohorts from 2013 to 2024 (JIA, rheumatoid arthritis [RA], systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE], and systemic sclerosis [SSc]), patients in the JIA cohort were recruited from the US, Australia, and Norway (with a UK cohort included in the meta-analyzed cohort), while patients in the other 3 cohorts were recruited from US and Western European countries. All analyses were conducted between September 2023 and April 2024.

Genetic associations.

Genetic correlations and shared genomic loci between JIA and adult rheumatic diseases. Genetic correlation analyses and cross-trait meta-analysis were conducted on the JIA cohort and the summary statistics of the GWASs from adult rheumatic diseases (RA, SLE, and SSc). Mendelian randomization analyses were also conducted.

This study included 33 207 patients across the 4 cohorts, with 4550 patients in the meta-analyzed JIA cohort (JIA cohort: 1485 patients with arthritis onset before 16 years; 1017 female [68.5%]; 10 352 controls; UK cohort: 3305 patients with JIA; 9196 controls), 143 61 patients in the RA cohort, 5201 patients in the SLE cohort; and 9095 patients in the SSc cohort. After the GWAS result of the JIA cohort was meta-analyzed with the UK JIA cohort, there was a total of 4550 JIA cases and 18 446 controls. The analysis revealed a significant global correlation between JIA and adult rheumatic diseases, with 84 regions harboring signals associated with multiple diseases. Cross-trait analyses uncovered novel disease loci and 20 loci associated with JIA and adult diseases. Mendelian randomization analysis revealed the significant association of 11 proteins with rheumatic disorders. Both shared, organ-specific, and disease-specific critical cell types were highlighted.

In this genetic association study, there was significant genetic overlap between JIA and adult rheumatic diseases. These findings may help to refine JIA classification, risk stratification, and therapeutic strategy of repurposing adult disease drugs for pediatric patients with similar mechanisms.