01615nas a2200169   4500000000100000008004100001653003000042653001000072653001200082100001400094700001100108700001100119700001200130245009000142520119900232022001401431       2014                            d10aComplement factor H (CFH)10aChina10aleprosy1 aZhang D-F1 aWang D1 aLi Y-Y1 aYao Y-G00aMapping genetic variants in the CFH gene for association with leprosy in Han Chinese.3 a<p>Complement factor H (CFH) is an essential regulator in the homeostasis of the complement system that plays multiple roles in leprosy. We previously reported a preliminary association of CFH with leprosy, but potentially causal variants remain to be identified. In this study, we performed a fine-mapping association analysis in 1110 individuals (527 leprosy patients and 583 controls) followed by bioinformatic analyses. We identified no association of typical missense CFH variants with leprosy and factor H-binding protein was not detected in Mycobacterium leprae. However, robust associations (PBonferroni<0.003) of several CFH intronic tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms with leprosy were observed. Expression quantitative trait locus analysis showed that these leprosy-protective alleles were associated with higher CFH level and lower CFHR3 (complement factor H-related 3) level. Our results indicated that CFH variants may contribute to leprosy pathogenesis through altering CFH expression, leading to regulation of complement activity rather than mediating immune evasion by bacteria binding.Genes and Immunity advance online publication, 17 July 2014; doi:10.1038/gene.2014.43.</p>  a1476-5470