This paper reports results from one of the first (GWASs) of childhood CD symptomatology. To our knowledge, only one previous GWAS of CD traits has been conducted, and that study examined CD traits only among individuals with ADHD24,25). We find four markers that pass the threshold for genome-wide significance, and another 25 SNPs that show association with CD symptoms or CD case status at P < 5×10−5 Two of the genomewide-significant SNPs were in the gene C1QTNF7 (C1q and tumor necrosis factor-related protein 7). Very little is known about this gene. Gene expression information available from the BioGPS online database (http://biogps.gnf.org/#goto=welcome)36 indicates that C1QTNF7 is expressed at comparable levels across tissues. It remains unclear at this time how C1QTNF7 may be functionally involved in CD. However, the involvement of multiple other SNPs, not in complete LD with the most highly associated SNPs in the gene, bolsters confidence that this gene is associated with CD symptoms.
