Genetic association studies have identified 21 loci associated with atopic dermatitis risk predominantly in populations of European ancestry. To identify further susceptibility loci for this common, complex skin disease, we performed a meta-analysis of >15 million genetic variants in 21,399 cases and 95,464 controls from populations of European, African, Japanese and Latino ancestry, followed by replication in 32,059 cases and 228,628 controls from 18 studies. We identified ten new risk loci, bringing the total number of known atopic dermatitis risk loci to 31 (with new secondary signals at four of these loci). Notably, the new loci include candidate genes with roles in the regulation of innate host defenses and T cell function, underscoring the important contribution of (auto)immune mechanisms to atopic dermatitis pathogenesis.

Biocenter Oulu University of Oulu Finland

Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston Salem NC USA

Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research Henry Ford Health System Detroit MI USA

Center for Innovative Medicine Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden

Center for Life course and Systems Epidemiology Faculty of Medicine University of Oulu Finland

Center for Life Course Epidemiology Faculty of Medicine University of Oulu Oulu Finland

Centre for Dermatology and Genetic Medicine University of Dundee Dundee UK

Centre for Genomic Regulation Barcelona Spain

Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology Barcelona Spain

Centre for Respiratory Medicine and Allergy Institute of Inflammation and Repair Manchester Academic Health Science Centre The University of Manchester and University Hospital of South Manchester National Health Service Foundation Trust Manchester United Kingdom

Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias Instituto de Salud Carlos 3 Madrid Spain

Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública Barcelona Spain

Channing Division of Network Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston MA USA

Clinic and Polyclinic of Dermatology University Medicine Greifswald Greifswald Germany

Clinic for Pediatric Allergy Experimental and Clinical Research Center Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Germany

Clinical and Experimental Sciences Faculty of Medicine University of Southampton Southampton UK

Clinical Medicine Trinity College Dublin Dublin Ireland

Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood Herlev and Gentofte Hospital University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences University of California San Francisco CA USA

Department of Biology and Medical Genetics University Hospital Motol and 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Biomedicine University of Basel Basel Switzerland

Department of Biosciences and Nutrition Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden

Department of Clinical Allergology Pomeranian Pomeranian Medical University Szczecin Poland

Department of Clinical Experimental Research Rigshospitalet Glostrup Denmark

Department of Clinical Medicine Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

Department of Dermatology Allergology and Venereology University Hospital Schleswig Holstein Campus Kiel Kiel Germany

Department of Dermatology and Allergy University of Bonn Medical Center Bonn Germany

Department of Dermatology Erasmus MC Rotterdam the Netherlands

Department of Dermatology Ninewells Hospital and Medical School Dundee UK

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Medical Research Council Centre for Environment and Health School of Public Health Imperial College London London UK

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics School of Public Health Imperial College London London UK

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute Basel Switzerland

Department of Epidemiology Erasmus MC Rotterdam the Netherlands

Department of Epidemiology Research Statens Serum Institut Copenhagen Denmark

Department of Functional Genomics Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics University Medicine and Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald Greifswald Germany

Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York NY USA

Department of Genomics Life and Brain Center University of Bonn Bonn Germany

Department of Human Genetics University of Chicago Chicago IL USA

Department of Internal Medicine Erasmus MC Rotterdam the Netherlands

Department of Internal Medicine Henry Ford Health System Detroit MI USA

Department of Medicine Stanford School of Medicine Stanford California USA

Department of Medicine University of California San Francisco CA USA

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Institute of Clinical Sciences Sahlgrenska Academy Sahlgrenska University Hosptial Gothenburg Sweden

Department of Pediatrics Erasmus MC Rotterdam the Netherlands

Department of Pediatrics The Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA USA

Department of Public Health Sciences Henry Ford Health System Detroit MI USA

Department of Public Health University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

Dept Biological Psychology Netherlands Twin Register VU University Amsterdam the Netherlands

Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Herz Kreislauferkrankungen Munich Heart Alliance Munich Germany

Division of Epidemiology Norwegian Institute of Public Health Oslo Norway

Division of Medical Genetics University Hospital Basel Basel Switzerland

Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute Barcelona Spain

Human Development and Health Faculty of Medicine University of Southampton Southampton UK

Institute for Community Medicine Study of Health in Pomerania KEF University Medicine Greifswald Greifswald Germany

Institute for Health and Care Research VU University Amsterdam the Netherlands

Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany

Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology Christian Albrechts University of Kiel Kiel Germany

Institute of Dermatology Anhui Medical University Hefei Anhui China

Institute of Environmental Medicine Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden

Institute of Epidemiology 1 Helmholtz Zentrum München German Research Center for Environmental Health Neuherberg Germany

Institute of Epidemiology 2 Helmholtz Zentrum München German Research Center for Environmental Health Neuherberg Germany

Institute of Epidemiology Christian Albrechts University Kiel Kiel Germany

Institute of Genetic Epidemiology Helmholtz Zentrum München German Research Center for Environmental Health Neuherberg Germany

Institute of Genetic Medicine Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne UK

Institute of Human Genetics University of Bonn Bonn Germany

Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine Structural and Functional Organisation of the Brain Genomic Imaging Research Centre Jülich Jülich Germany

Institute of Social Medicine Epidemiology and Health Economics Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Germany

KCL Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology King's College London London UK

Klinik für Kinder und Jugendmedizin Technical University Dresden Dresden Germany

Laboratory for Genotyping Development Center for Integrative Medical Sciences Institute of Physical and Chemical Research Yokohama Japan

Laboratory for Respiratory and Allergic Diseases Center for Integrative Medical Sciences Institute of Physical and Chemical Research Yokohama Japan

Laboratory for Statistical Analysis Center for Integrative Medical Sciences Institute of Physical and Chemical Research Yokohama Japan

Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital Division of Metabolic Diseases and Nutritional Medicine Munich Germany

Lung Institute of Western Australia QE 2 Medical Centre Nedlands Western Australia Australia

Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin Germany

Me Inc Mountain View CA USA

Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit University of Bristol Bristol UK

Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton Southampton UK

Medical Research Council Public Health England Centre for Environment and Health School of Public Health Imperial College London London UK

Melbourne School of Population and Global Health University of Melbourne Melbourne Australia

Murdoch Children's Research Institute Melbourne Australia

National Allergy Research Centre Department of Dermatology and Allergology Herlev and Gentofte Hospital University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

National Children's Research Centre Crumlin Dublin Ireland

National Institute for Health Research Foundation Trust Southampton UK

Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin Dublin Ireland

Pediatric Pneumology and Immunology Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Berlin Germany

Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona Spain

Population Health Research Institute St George's University of London London UK

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Brisbane Australia

Research Centre for Prevention and Health Capital Region of Denmark Copenhagen Denmark

Research Unit Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spain

Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology Helmholtz Zentrum München German Research Center for Environmental Health Neuherberg Germany

Respiratory Epidemiology Occupational Medicine and Public Health; National Heart and Lung Institute; Imperial College; London UK

Sachs' Children's Hospital Stockholm Sweden

School of Medicine and Pharmacology University of Western Australia Perth Australia

School of Nursing University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA

School of Social and Community Medicine University of Bristol Bristol UK

School of Women's and Infants' Health The University of Western Australia Perth Australia

The Center for Applied Genomics The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia PA USA

The Generation R Study Group Erasmus MC Rotterdam the Netherlands

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

These authors jointly directed this work

Unit of Living Environment and Health National Institute for Health and Welfare Kuopio Finland

Unit of Primary Care Oulu University Hospital Oulu Finland

University of Basel Basel Switzerland

University of Groningen University Medical Center Groningen Beatrix Children's Hospital Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergology Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD Groningen the Netherlands

University of Groningen University Medical Center Groningen Department of Genetics Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD Groningen the Netherlands

University of Groningen University Medical Center Groningen Department of Pulmonology Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD Groningen the Netherlands

University of Queensland Diamantina Institute Translational Research Institute University of Queensland Brisbane Australia

Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics University of Oxford Oxford UK

Woolcock Institute of Medical Research University of Sydney Sydney Australia

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Discovery of common and rare genetic risk variants for colorectal cancer