@article {1169, title = {Large-scale genomic studies reveal central role of ABO in sP-selectin and sICAM-1 levels.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {19}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 May 01}, pages = {1863-72}, abstract = {

P-selectin and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) participate in inflammatory processes by promoting adhesion of leukocytes to vascular wall endothelium. Their soluble levels have been associated with adverse cardiovascular events. To identify loci affecting soluble levels of P-selectin (sP-selectin) and ICAM-1 (sICAM-1), we performed a genome-wide association study in a sample of 4115 (sP-selectin) and 9813 (sICAM-1) individuals of European ancestry as a part of The Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genome Epidemiology consortium. The most significant SNP association for sP-selectin was within the SELP gene (rs6136, P = 4.05 x 10(-61)) and for sICAM-1 levels within the ICAM-1 gene (rs3093030, P = 3.53 x 10(-23)). Both sP-selectin and sICAM-1 were associated with ABO gene variants (rs579459, P = 1.86 x 10(-41) and rs649129, P = 1.22 x 10(-15), respectively) and in both cases the observed associations could be accounted for by the A1 allele of the ABO blood group. The absence of an association between ABO blood group and platelet-bound P-selectin levels in an independent subsample (N = 1088) from the ARIC study, suggests that the ABO blood group may influence cleavage of the P-selectin protein from the cell surface or clearance from the circulation, rather than its production and cellular presentation. These results provide new insights into adhesion molecule biology.

}, keywords = {ABO Blood-Group System, Blood Platelets, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, European Continental Ancestry Group, Fluorescence, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1, P-Selectin}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddq061}, author = {Barbalic, Maja and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Dehghan, Abbas and Bis, Joshua C and Hoogeveen, Ron C and Schnabel, Renate B and Nambi, Vijay and Bretler, Monique and Smith, Nicholas L and Peters, Annette and Lu, Chen and Tracy, Russell P and Aleksic, Nena and Heeriga, Jan and Keaney, John F and Rice, Kenneth and Lip, Gregory Y H and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Glazer, Nicole L and Larson, Martin G and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Yamamoto, Jennifer and Durda, Peter and Haritunians, Talin and Psaty, Bruce M and Boerwinkle, Eric and Hofman, Albert and Koenig, Wolfgang and Jenny, Nancy S and Witteman, Jacqueline C and Ballantyne, Christie and Benjamin, Emelia J} } @article {1267, title = {Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in >80 000 subjects identifies multiple loci for C-reactive protein levels.}, journal = {Circulation}, volume = {123}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Feb 22}, pages = {731-8}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a heritable marker of chronic inflammation that is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. We sought to identify genetic variants that are associated with CRP levels.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a genome-wide association analysis of CRP in 66 185 participants from 15 population-based studies. We sought replication for the genome-wide significant and suggestive loci in a replication panel comprising 16 540 individuals from 10 independent studies. We found 18 genome-wide significant loci, and we provided evidence of replication for 8 of them. Our results confirm 7 previously known loci and introduce 11 novel loci that are implicated in pathways related to the metabolic syndrome (APOC1, HNF1A, LEPR, GCKR, HNF4A, and PTPN2) or the immune system (CRP, IL6R, NLRP3, IL1F10, and IRF1) or that reside in regions previously not known to play a role in chronic inflammation (PPP1R3B, SALL1, PABPC4, ASCL1, RORA, and BCL7B). We found a significant interaction of body mass index with LEPR (P<2.9{\texttimes}10(-6)). A weighted genetic risk score that was developed to summarize the effect of risk alleles was strongly associated with CRP levels and explained ≈5\% of the trait variance; however, there was no evidence for these genetic variants explaining the association of CRP with coronary heart disease.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified 18 loci that were associated with CRP levels. Our study highlights immune response and metabolic regulatory pathways involved in the regulation of chronic inflammation.

}, keywords = {Biomarkers, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Risk Factors, Vasculitis}, issn = {1524-4539}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.948570}, author = {Dehghan, Abbas and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Barbalic, Maja and Bis, Joshua C and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Lu, Chen and Pellikka, Niina and Wallaschofski, Henri and Kettunen, Johannes and Henneman, Peter and Baumert, Jens and Strachan, David P and Fuchsberger, Christian and Vitart, Veronique and Wilson, James F and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and Naitza, Silvia and Rudock, Megan E and Surakka, Ida and de Geus, Eco J C and Alizadeh, Behrooz Z and Guralnik, Jack and Shuldiner, Alan and Tanaka, Toshiko and Zee, Robert Y L and Schnabel, Renate B and Nambi, Vijay and Kavousi, Maryam and Ripatti, Samuli and Nauck, Matthias and Smith, Nicholas L and Smith, Albert V and Sundvall, Jouko and Scheet, Paul and Liu, Yongmei and Ruokonen, Aimo and Rose, Lynda M and Larson, Martin G and Hoogeveen, Ron C and Freimer, Nelson B and Teumer, Alexander and Tracy, Russell P and Launer, Lenore J and Buring, Julie E and Yamamoto, Jennifer F and Folsom, Aaron R and Sijbrands, Eric J G and Pankow, James and Elliott, Paul and Keaney, John F and Sun, Wei and Sarin, Antti-Pekka and Fontes, Jo{\~a}o D and Badola, Sunita and Astor, Brad C and Hofman, Albert and Pouta, Anneli and Werdan, Karl and Greiser, Karin H and Kuss, Oliver and Meyer zu Schwabedissen, Henriette E and Thiery, Joachim and Jamshidi, Yalda and Nolte, Ilja M and Soranzo, Nicole and Spector, Timothy D and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Parker, Alexander N and Aspelund, Thor and Bates, David and Young, Lauren and Tsui, Kim and Siscovick, David S and Guo, Xiuqing and Rotter, Jerome I and Uda, Manuela and Schlessinger, David and Rudan, Igor and Hicks, Andrew A and Penninx, Brenda W and Thorand, Barbara and Gieger, Christian and Coresh, Joe and Willemsen, Gonneke and Harris, Tamara B and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta and Rice, Kenneth and Radke, D{\"o}rte and Salomaa, Veikko and Willems van Dijk, Ko and Boerwinkle, Eric and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Ferrucci, Luigi and Gibson, Quince D and Bandinelli, Stefania and Snieder, Harold and Boomsma, Dorret I and Xiao, Xiangjun and Campbell, Harry and Hayward, Caroline and Pramstaller, Peter P and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Peltonen, Leena and Psaty, Bruce M and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Ridker, Paul M and Homuth, Georg and Koenig, Wolfgang and Ballantyne, Christie M and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Benjamin, Emelia J and Perola, Markus and Chasman, Daniel I} } @article {1341, title = {Eight genetic loci associated with variation in lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 mass and activity and coronary heart disease: meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from five community-based studies.}, journal = {Eur Heart J}, volume = {33}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Jan}, pages = {238-51}, abstract = {

AIMS: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) generates proinflammatory and proatherogenic compounds in the arterial vascular wall and is a potential therapeutic target in coronary heart disease (CHD). We searched for genetic loci related to Lp-PLA2 mass or activity by a genome-wide association study as part of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium.

METHODS AND RESULTS: In meta-analyses of findings from five population-based studies, comprising 13 664 subjects, variants at two loci (PLA2G7, CETP) were associated with Lp-PLA2 mass. The strongest signal was at rs1805017 in PLA2G7 [P = 2.4 {\texttimes} 10(-23), log Lp-PLA2 difference per allele (beta): 0.043]. Variants at six loci were associated with Lp-PLA2 activity (PLA2G7, APOC1, CELSR2, LDL, ZNF259, SCARB1), among which the strongest signals were at rs4420638, near the APOE-APOC1-APOC4-APOC2 cluster [P = 4.9 {\texttimes} 10(-30); log Lp-PLA2 difference per allele (beta): -0.054]. There were no significant gene-environment interactions between these eight polymorphisms associated with Lp-PLA2 mass or activity and age, sex, body mass index, or smoking status. Four of the polymorphisms (in APOC1, CELSR2, SCARB1, ZNF259), but not PLA2G7, were significantly associated with CHD in a second study.

CONCLUSION: Levels of Lp-PLA2 mass and activity were associated with PLA2G7, the gene coding for this protein. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 activity was also strongly associated with genetic variants related to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

}, keywords = {1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase, Aged, Coronary Artery Disease, Coronary Disease, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Phospholipases A2, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1522-9645}, doi = {10.1093/eurheartj/ehr372}, author = {Grallert, Harald and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Bis, Joshua C and Dehghan, Abbas and Barbalic, Maja and Baumert, Jens and Lu, Chen and Smith, Nicholas L and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Roberts, Robert and Khuseyinova, Natalie and Schnabel, Renate B and Rice, Kenneth M and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Hoogeveen, Ron C and Fontes, Jo{\~a}o Daniel and Meisinger, Christa and Keaney, John F and Lemaitre, Rozenn and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Ellis, Stephen and Hazen, Stanley L and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Nelson, Jeanenne J and M{\"a}rz, Winfried and Schunkert, Heribert and McPherson, Ruth M and Stirnadel-Farrant, Heide A and Psaty, Bruce M and Gieger, Christian and Siscovick, David and Hofman, Albert and Illig, Thomas and Cushman, Mary and Yamamoto, Jennifer F and Rotter, Jerome I and Larson, Martin G and Stewart, Alexandre F R and Boerwinkle, Eric and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Tracy, Russell P and Koenig, Wolfgang and Benjamin, Emelia J and Ballantyne, Christie M} }