The genetic architecture of Parkinson disease in Spain: characterizing population-specific risk, differential haplotype structures, and providing etiologic insight

Abstract

Background: The Iberian peninsula stands out as having variable levels of population admixture and isolation, making Spain an interesting setting for studying the genetic architecture of neurodegenerative diseases. Objectives: To perform the largest Parkinson disease (PD) genome-wide association study (GWAS) restricted to a single country. Methods: We performed a GWAS for both risk of PD and age at onset (AAO) in 7,849 Spanish individuals. Further analyses included population-specific risk haplotype assessments, polygenic risk scoring through machine learning, Mendelian randomization of expression and methylation data to gain insight into disease-associated loci, heritability estimates, genetic correlations and burden analyses. Results: We identified a novel population-specific GWAS signal at PARK2 associated with AAO. We replicated four genome-wide independent signals associated with PD risk, including SNCA, LRRK2, KANSL1/MAPT and HLA-DQB1. A significant trend for smaller risk haplotypes at known loci was found compared to similar studies of non-Spanish origin. Seventeen PD-related genes showed functional consequence via two-sample Mendelian randomization in expression and methylation datasets. Long runs of homozygosity at 28 known genes/loci were found to be enriched in cases versus controls. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate the utility of the Spanish risk haplotype substructure for future fine-mapping efforts, showing how leveraging unique and diverse population histories can benefit genetic studies of complex diseases. The present study points to PARK2 as a major hallmark of PD etiology in Spain.