“Unravelling the dark matter of infectious diseases, environmental and genetic factors tipping the balance towards NCDs” (“ID-DarkMatter-NCD”)

Synopsis:

Use of retrospective data for clinical research. 

Immune system-related non-communicable diseases (referred to in the source documentation as ENI-TI) are characterised by autoimmune or inflammatory phenotypes and include conditions such as post-Covid-19 condition (PCC), multiple sclerosis (MS), myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The objectives are to: 1) identify immune events (IEs) that trigger ENI-TIs, and 2) disentangle the environmental and genetic factors that influence the transition from IEs to ENI-TIs by combining multi-omics approaches and innovative technologies for personalised genotyping of adaptive immune receptor genes.

Participating institutions:

• Medizinische Universitaet Wien, [MUW]
• University Medical Center Groningen [UMCG]
• EUTEMA Research Services GmbH [EUT-RS]
• Sorbonne Université [SU]
• Academisch Ziekenhuis Leiden [LUMC]
• Universitatsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein [UKSH]
• Szegedi Biologiai Kutatokozpont [BRC]
• Karolinska Institutet [KI]
• Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron – Institut de Recerca [VHIR]
• Assistance Publique Hopitaux de París [APHP]

Source of the data:

IMID Biobank of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital Biobank and the National DNA Bank.

Clinical cohorts. 

Retrospective. A population-scale cohort (“LifeLines”). In LifeLines, samples from more than 150,000 healthy individuals were collected longitudinally over a period exceeding 15 years. Over time, some individuals developed ENI-TIs, which were recorded during follow-up. Within ID-DarkMatter-NCD, samples from these patients collected prior to disease onset are accessed in order to identify pre-diagnostic markers of subclinical differences that precede and predict disease onset. 

The VHIR group will contribute (together with other European consortium partners) DNA and plasma samples from patients in immune-mediated disease (IMID) cohorts, the associated genetic and omics analyses linked to the project, expert interpretation of the results, and dissemination through Open Access publications.