Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease characterised by non-necrotising granulomas in multiple organs. The exact cause of sarcoidosis is unkown but the hypothesis is that environmental antigen in a genetically predisposed individual triggers dysregulated T-cell driven immunologic response. The incidence of sarcoidosis is highest in North Europe. Even half of patients may heal spontaneously but the prognosis varies depending on the disease severity and organs affected. Autopsy reports and imaging studies show cardiac involvement in 25-30% of patients. In Finland, cardiac sarcoidosis affects predominantly young and middle-aged adults, of whom >70% are women. Due to bottle-neck population, genes predisposing to sarcoidosis may be enriched in Finland. Using the FinnGen data of >500.000 genotyped individuals and the longitudinal Finnish health registers, we aim to identify genetic associations modifying the risk of sarcoidosis, severity of the disease, cardiac involvement and prognosis.

2025

2029