@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 {6220, title = {Predicting stroke through genetic risk functions: the CHARGE Risk Score Project.}, journal = {Stroke}, volume = {45}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Feb}, pages = {403-12}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Beyond the Framingham Stroke Risk Score, prediction of future stroke may improve with a genetic risk score (GRS) based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with stroke and its risk factors.

METHODS: The study includes 4 population-based cohorts with 2047 first incident strokes from 22,720 initially stroke-free European origin participants aged >=55 years, who were followed for up to 20 years. GRSs were constructed with 324 single-nucleotide polymorphisms implicated in stroke and 9 risk factors. The association of the GRS to first incident stroke was tested using Cox regression; the GRS predictive properties were assessed with area under the curve statistics comparing the GRS with age and sex, Framingham Stroke Risk Score models, and reclassification statistics. These analyses were performed per cohort and in a meta-analysis of pooled data. Replication was sought in a case-control study of ischemic stroke.

RESULTS: In the meta-analysis, adding the GRS to the Framingham Stroke Risk Score, age and sex model resulted in a significant improvement in discrimination (all stroke: Δjoint area under the curve=0.016, P=2.3{\texttimes}10(-6); ischemic stroke: Δjoint area under the curve=0.021, P=3.7{\texttimes}10(-7)), although the overall area under the curve remained low. In all the studies, there was a highly significantly improved net reclassification index (P<10(-4)).

CONCLUSIONS: The single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with stroke and its risk factors result only in a small improvement in prediction of future stroke compared with the classical epidemiological risk factors for stroke.

}, keywords = {Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Area Under Curve, Case-Control Studies, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, ROC Curve, Sex Factors, Stroke}, issn = {1524-4628}, doi = {10.1161/STROKEAHA.113.003044}, author = {Ibrahim-Verbaas, Carla A and Fornage, Myriam and Bis, Joshua C and Choi, Seung Hoan and Psaty, Bruce M and Meigs, James B and Rao, Madhu and Nalls, Mike and Fontes, Jo{\~a}o D and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Kathiresan, Sekar and Ehret, Georg B and Fox, Caroline S and Malik, Rainer and Dichgans, Martin and Schmidt, Helena and Lahti, Jari and Heckbert, Susan R and Lumley, Thomas and Rice, Kenneth and Rotter, Jerome I and Taylor, Kent D and Folsom, Aaron R and Boerwinkle, Eric and Rosamond, Wayne D and Shahar, Eyal and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Koudstaal, Peter J and Amin, Najaf and Wieberdink, Renske G and Dehghan, Abbas and Hofman, Albert and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and DeStefano, Anita L and Debette, Stephanie and Xue, Luting and Beiser, Alexa and Wolf, Philip A and DeCarli, Charles and Ikram, M Arfan and Seshadri, Sudha and Mosley, Thomas H and Longstreth, W T and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Launer, Lenore J} }