Causal relationship between B4GALT5 and SLE

Establish whether β-1,4-galactosyltransferase 5 (B4GALT5) is causally associated with systemic lupus erythematosus in East Asian populations, where B4GALT5 variant prevalence is low, to clarify its role in SLE pathogenesis and predictive utility.

Background

The study identified B4GALT5 as strongly correlated with SLE flares in logistic regression analysis but did not find a causal relationship using the genetic instruments available in an East Asian cohort. The authors attribute this limitation potentially to the low prevalence of B4GALT5 variants in the studied population.

They suggest that diverse population studies are needed to evaluate B4GALT5’s role in SLE pathogenesis and its value as a predictive biomarker, indicating that the causal link remains unresolved.

References

However, we did not establish a causal relationship between B4GALT5 and SLE, possibly due to the low prevalence of B4GALT5 variants in the East Asian population studied. This underscores the need for diverse population studies to evaluate B4GALT5's role in SLE pathogenesis and its predictive value.

— Phenome-wide causal proteomics enhance systemic lupus erythematosus flare prediction: A study in Asian populations  (2411.11915 - Chen et al., 2024) in Discussion (paragraph on B4GALT5)