@article {932, title = {Association of polymorphisms in the CRP gene with circulating C-reactive protein levels and cardiovascular events.}, journal = {JAMA}, volume = {296}, year = {2006}, month = {2006 Dec 13}, pages = {2703-11}, abstract = {

CONTEXT: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammation protein that may play a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether polymorphisms in the CRP gene are associated with plasma CRP, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and CVD events.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In the prospective, population-based Cardiovascular Health Study, 4 tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (1919A/T, 2667G/C, 3872G/A, 5237A/G) were genotyped in 3941 white (European American) participants and 5 tag SNPs (addition of 790A/T) were genotyped in 700 black (African American) participants, aged 65 years or older, all of whom were without myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke before study entry. Median follow-up was 13 years (1989-2003).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Baseline CIMT; occurrence of MI, stroke, and CVD mortality during follow-up.

RESULTS: In white participants, 461 incident MIs, 491 incident strokes, and 490 CVD-related deaths occurred; in black participants, 67 incident MIs, 78 incident strokes, and 75 CVD-related deaths occurred. The 1919T and 790T alleles were associated with higher CRP levels in white and black participants, respectively. The 3872A allele was associated with lower CRP levels in both populations, and the 2667C allele was associated with lower CRP levels in white participants only. There was no association between CIMT and any CRP gene polymorphism in either population. In white participants, the 1919T allele was associated with increased risk of stroke for TT vs AA (hazard ratio [HR], 1.40; 95\% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.87) and for CVD mortality (HR, 1.40; 95\% CI, 1.10-1.90). In black participants, homozygosity for the 790T allele was associated with a 4-fold increased risk of MI compared with homozygosity for the 790A allele (95\% CI, 1.58-10.53). The minor alleles of the 2 SNPs associated with lower plasma CRP concentration in white participants (2667C and 3872A) were associated with decreased risk of CVD mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variation in the CRP gene is associated with plasma CRP levels and CVD risk in older adults.

}, keywords = {African Continental Ancestry Group, Aged, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Carotid Arteries, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genotype, Humans, Male, Myocardial Infarction, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk, Stroke, Tunica Intima}, issn = {1538-3598}, doi = {10.1001/jama.296.22.2703}, author = {Lange, Leslie A and Carlson, Christopher S and Hindorff, Lucia A and Lange, Ethan M and Walston, Jeremy and Durda, J Peter and Cushman, Mary and Bis, Joshua C and Zeng, Donglin and Lin, Danyu and Kuller, Lewis H and Nickerson, Deborah A and Psaty, Bruce M and Tracy, Russell P and Reiner, Alexander P} } @article {1019, title = {Associations between common fibrinogen gene polymorphisms and cardiovascular disease in older adults. The Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Thromb Haemost}, volume = {99}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 Feb}, pages = {388-95}, abstract = {

Elevated plasma fibrinogen is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but associations between fibrinogen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and disease risk are inconsistent. We investigated whether common (> or = 5\% minor allele frequency) variation in the fibrinogen genes (FGA, FGB, FGG) is associated with fibrinogen concentration, carotid artery intima-medial thickness (IMT) and risk of incident myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic stroke and CVD mortality in European- (EA) and African-descent (AA) adults (> or = 65 years) from the Cardiovascular Health Study. TagSNPs were genotyped in 3,969 EA and 719 AA free of MI or stroke at baseline. Race-specific models included multiple testing correction and adjustment for sex, age and site. Among EA, minor alleles of FGA3807, FGB1437 and FGG902 were associated with higher fibrinogen levels; whereas FGA251, FGA2224, FGA6534 and FGG10034 were associated with lower levels, p<0.004 for each. Strongest associations were seen for FGB1437; each additional copy of the minor allele was associated with 13 mg/dl (95\%CI: 9-16) higher fibrinogen level. Similar trends in AA were not significant. Fibrinogen haplotypes were not significantly associated with internal or common carotid IMT. No associations with MI or CVD mortality were seen in EA, though FGB1038 and FGG902 were significantly associated with increased and decreased risk of stroke in men, respectively, as were related haplotypes. FGB1038 was also associated with CVD mortality in AA, HR = 1.9 (95\%CI: 1.3-2.7). In conclusion, while fibrinogen genetic variation was strongly associated with fibrinogen levels, there was less evidence of association with the more complex outcomes of IMT and CVD events.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Age Factors, Aged, Brain Ischemia, Cardiovascular Diseases, Carotid Artery Diseases, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Fibrinogen, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Haplotypes, Humans, Male, Myocardial Infarction, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Population Surveillance, Proportional Hazards Models, Prospective Studies, Reproducibility of Results, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Stroke, United States}, issn = {0340-6245}, doi = {10.1160/TH07-08-0523}, author = {Carty, Cara L and Cushman, Mary and Jones, Daniel and Lange, Leslie A and Hindorff, Lucia A and Rice, Kenneth and Jenny, Nancy S and Durda, J Peter and Walston, Jeremy and Carlson, Christopher S and Nickerson, Debbie and Tracy, Russell P and Reiner, Alex P} } @article {986, title = {Common variants in the CRP gene in relation to longevity and cause-specific mortality in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Atherosclerosis}, volume = {197}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 Apr}, pages = {922-30}, abstract = {

Common polymorphisms in the CRP gene are associated with plasma CRP levels in population-based studies, but associations with age-related events are uncertain. A previous study of CRP haplotypes in older adults was broadened to include longevity and cause-specific mortality (all-cause, noncardiovascular (non-CV), and cardiovascular (CV)). Common haplotypes were inferred from four tagSNPs in 4512 whites and five tagSNPs in 812 blacks from the Cardiovascular Health Study, a longitudinal cohort of adults over age 65. Exploratory analyses addressed early versus late mortality. CRP haplotypes were not associated with all-cause mortality or longevity overall in either population, but associations with all-cause mortality differed during early and late periods. In blacks, the haplotype tagged by 3872A (rs1205) was associated with increased risk of non-CV mortality, relative to other haplotypes (adjusted hazard ratio for each additional copy: 1.42, 95\% CI: 1.07, 1.87). Relative to other haplotypes, this haplotype was associated with decreased risk of early but not decreased risk of late CV mortality in blacks; among whites, a haplotype tagged by 2667C (rs1800947) gave similar but nonsignificant findings. If confirmed, CRP genetic variants may be weakly associated with CV and non-CV mortality in older adults, particularly in self-identified blacks.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cause of Death, Cohort Studies, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Haplotypes, Humans, Linear Models, Longevity, Male, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proportional Hazards Models, United States}, issn = {1879-1484}, doi = {10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2007.08.012}, author = {Hindorff, Lucia A and Rice, Kenneth M and Lange, Leslie A and Diehr, Paula and Halder, Indrani and Walston, Jeremy and Kwok, Pui and Ziv, Elad and Nievergelt, Caroline and Cummings, Steven R and Newman, Anne B and Tracy, Russell P and Psaty, Bruce M and Reiner, Alexander P} } @article {1028, title = {Polymorphisms of the HNF1A gene encoding hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 alpha are associated with C-reactive protein.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {82}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 May}, pages = {1193-201}, abstract = {

Data from the Pharmacogenomics and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (PARC) study and the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) provide independent and confirmatory evidence for association between common polymorphisms of the HNF1A gene encoding hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 alpha and plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration. Analyses with the use of imputation-based methods to combine genotype data from both studies and to test untyped SNPs from the HapMap database identified several SNPs within a 5 kb region of HNF1A intron 1 with the strongest evidence of association with CRP phenotype.

}, keywords = {Aged, Bayes Theorem, C-Reactive Protein, Female, Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha, Humans, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Pravastatin, Simvastatin}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.03.017}, author = {Reiner, Alexander P and Barber, Mathew J and Guan, Yongtao and Ridker, Paul M and Lange, Leslie A and Chasman, Daniel I and Walston, Jeremy D and Cooper, Gregory M and Jenny, Nancy S and Rieder, Mark J and Durda, J Peter and Smith, Joshua D and Novembre, John and Tracy, Russell P and Rotter, Jerome I and Stephens, Matthew and Nickerson, Deborah A and Krauss, Ronald M} } @article {1154, title = {Common coding variants of the HNF1A gene are associated with multiple cardiovascular risk phenotypes in community-based samples of younger and older European-American adults: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study and The Cardiovascula}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {2}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Jun}, pages = {244-54}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1 alpha regulates the activity of a number of genes involved in innate immunity, blood coagulation, lipid and glucose transport and metabolism, and cellular detoxification. Common polymorphisms of the HNF-1 alpha gene (HNF1A) were recently associated with plasma C-reactive protein and gamma-glutamyl transferase concentration in middle-aged to older European Americans (EA).

METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed whether common variants of HNF1A are associated with C-reactive protein, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and other atherosclerotic and metabolic risk factors, in the large, population-based Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study of healthy young EA (n=2154) and African American (AA; n=2083) adults. The minor alleles of Ile27Leu (rs1169288) and Ser486Asn (rs2464196) were associated with 0.10 to 0.15 standard deviation units lower C-reactive protein and gamma-glutamyl transferase levels in EA. The same HNF1A coding variants were associated with higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, creatinine, and fibrinogen in EA. We replicated the associations between HNF1A coding variants and C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and renal function in a second population-based sample of EA adults 65 years and older from the Cardiovascular Health Study. The HNF1A Ser486Asn and/or Ile27Leu variants were also associated with increased risk of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults and with incident coronary heart disease in Cardiovascular Health Study. The Ile27Leu and Ser486Asn variants were 3-fold less common in AA than in EA. There was little evidence of association between HNF1A genotype and atherosclerosis-related phenotypes in AA.

CONCLUSIONS: Common polymorphisms of HNF1A seem to influence multiple phenotypes related to cardiovascular risk in the general population of younger and older EA adults.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cholesterol, LDL, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Fibrinogen, gamma-Glutamyltransferase, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genotype, Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.108.839506}, author = {Reiner, Alexander P and Gross, Myron D and Carlson, Christopher S and Bielinski, Suzette J and Lange, Leslie A and Fornage, Myriam and Jenny, Nancy S and Walston, Jeremy and Tracy, Russell P and Williams, O Dale and Jacobs, David R and Nickerson, Deborah A} } @article {1081, title = {Inflammation and stress-related candidate genes, plasma interleukin-6 levels, and longevity in older adults.}, journal = {Exp Gerontol}, volume = {44}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 May}, pages = {350-5}, abstract = {

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an inflammatory cytokine that influences the development of inflammatory and aging-related disorders and ultimately longevity. In order to study the influence of variants in genes that regulate inflammatory response on IL-6 levels and longevity, we screened a panel of 477 tag SNPs across 87 candidate genes in >5000 older participants from the population-based Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Baseline plasma IL-6 concentration was first confirmed as a strong predictor of all-cause mortality. Functional alleles of the IL6R and PARP1 genes were significantly associated with 15\%-20\% higher baseline IL-6 concentration per copy among CHS European-American (EA) participants (all p<10(-4)). In a case/control analysis nested within this EA cohort, the minor allele of PARP1 rs1805415 was nominally associated with decreased longevity (p=0.001), but there was no evidence of association between IL6R genotype and longevity. The PARP1 rs1805415--longevity association was subsequently replicated in one of two independent case/control studies. In a pooled analysis of all three studies, the "risk" of longevity associated with the minor allele of PARP1 rs1805415 was 0.79 (95\%CI 0.62-1.02; p=0.07). These findings warrant further study of the potential role of PARP1 genotype in inflammatory and aging-related phenotypes.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Cardiovascular Diseases, Case-Control Studies, Female, Genetic Variation, Genotype, Humans, Inflammation, Interleukin-6, Longevity, Male, Phenotype, Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1, Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases, Risk Factors}, issn = {1873-6815}, doi = {10.1016/j.exger.2009.02.004}, author = {Walston, Jeremy D and Matteini, Amy M and Nievergelt, Caroline and Lange, Leslie A and Fallin, Dani M and Barzilai, Nir and Ziv, Elad and Pawlikowska, Ludmila and Kwok, Pui and Cummings, Steve R and Kooperberg, Charles and LaCroix, Andrea and Tracy, Russell P and Atzmon, Gil and Lange, Ethan M and Reiner, Alex P} } @article {1158, title = {Interaction between fibrinogen and IL-6 genetic variants and associations with cardiovascular disease risk in the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Ann Hum Genet}, volume = {74}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Jan}, pages = {1-10}, abstract = {

The inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a main regulator of fibrinogen synthesis, though its interaction with fibrinogen genes (FGA, FGB, FGG) and subsequent impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is not well-studied. We investigated joint associations of fibrinogen and IL6 tagSNPs with fibrinogen concentrations, carotid intima-media thickness, and myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke in 3900 European-American Cardiovascular Health Study participants. To identify combinations of genetic main effects and interactions associated with outcomes, we used logic regression. We also evaluated whether the relationship between fibrinogen SNPs and fibrinogen level varied by IL-6 level using linear regression models with multiplicative interaction terms. Combinations of fibrinogen and IL6 SNPs were significantly associated with fibrinogen level (p < 0.005), but not with other outcomes. Fibrinogen levels were higher in individuals having FGB1437 (rs1800790) and lacking FGA6534 (rs6050) minor alleles; these SNPs interacted with IL6 rs1800796 to influence fibrinogen level. Marginally significant (p= 0.03) interactions between IL-6 level and FGA and FGG promoter SNPs associated with fibrinogen levels were detected. We identified potential gene-gene interactions influencing fibrinogen levels. Although IL-6 responsive binding sites are present in fibrinogen gene promoter regions, we did not find strong evidence of interaction between fibrinogen SNPs and IL6 SNPs or levels influencing CVD.

}, keywords = {Aged, Cardiovascular Diseases, Carotid Arteries, Female, Fibrinogen, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, Humans, Interleukin-6, Male, Models, Biological, Myocardial Infarction, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk, Stroke}, issn = {1469-1809}, doi = {10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00551.x}, author = {Carty, Cara L and Heagerty, Patrick and Heckbert, Susan R and Jarvik, Gail P and Lange, Leslie A and Cushman, Mary and Tracy, Russell P and Reiner, Alexander P} } @article {1562, title = {Association of genomic loci from a cardiovascular gene SNP array with fibrinogen levels in European Americans and African-Americans from six cohort studies: the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe).}, journal = {Blood}, volume = {117}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jan 06}, pages = {268-75}, abstract = {

Several common genomic loci, involving various immunity- and metabolism-related genes, have been associated with plasma fibrinogen in European Americans (EAs). The genetic determinants of fibrinogen in African Americans (AAs) are poorly characterized. Using a vascular gene-centric array in 23,634 EA and 6657 AA participants from 6 studies comprising the Candidate Gene Association Resource project, we examined the association of 47,539 common and lower frequency variants with fibrinogen concentration. We identified a rare Pro265Leu variant in FGB (rs6054) associated with lower fibrinogen. Common fibrinogen gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (FGB rs1800787 and FGG rs2066861) significantly associated with fibrinogen in EAs were prevalent in AAs and showed consistent associations. Several fibrinogen locus single nucleotide polymorphism associated with lower fibrinogen were exclusive to AAs; these include a newly reported association with FGA rs10050257. For IL6R, IL1RN, and NLRP3 inflammatory gene loci, associations with fibrinogen were concordant between EAs and AAs, but not at other loci (CPS1, PCCB, and SCL22A5-IRF1). The association of FGG rs2066861 with fibrinogen differed according to assay type used to measure fibrinogen. Further characterization of common and lower-frequency genetic variants that contribute to interpopulation differences in fibrinogen phenotype may help refine our understanding of the contribution of hemostasis and inflammation to atherothrombotic risk.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Fibrinogen, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Haplotypes, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1528-0020}, doi = {10.1182/blood-2010-06-289546}, author = {Wassel, Christina L and Lange, Leslie A and Keating, Brendan J and Taylor, Kira C and Johnson, Andrew D and Palmer, Cameron and Ho, Lindsey A and Smith, Nicholas L and Lange, Ethan M and Li, Yun and Yang, Qiong and Delaney, Joseph A and Tang, Weihong and Tofler, Geoffrey and Redline, Susan and Taylor, Herman A and Wilson, James G and Tracy, Russell P and Jacobs, David R and Folsom, Aaron R and Green, David and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Reiner, Alexander P} } @article {1568, title = {A gene-centric association scan for Coagulation Factor VII levels in European and African Americans: the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) Consortium.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {20}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Sep 01}, pages = {3525-34}, abstract = {

Polymorphisms in several distinct genomic regions, including the F7 gene, were recently associated with factor VII (FVII) levels in European Americans (EAs). The genetic determinants of FVII in African Americans (AAs) are unknown. We used a 50,000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) gene-centric array having dense coverage of over 2,000 candidate genes for cardiovascular disease (CVD) pathways in a community-based sample of 16,324 EA and 3898 AA participants from the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) consortium. Our aim was the discovery of new genomic loci and more detailed characterization of existing loci associated with FVII levels. In EAs, we identified three new loci associated with FVII, of which APOA5 on chromosome 11q23 and HNF4A on chromosome 20q12-13 were replicated in a sample of 4289 participants from the Whitehall II study. We confirmed four previously reported FVII-associated loci (GCKR, MS4A6A, F7 and PROCR) in CARe EA samples. In AAs, the F7 and PROCR regions were significantly associated with FVII. Several of the FVII-associated regions are known to be associated with lipids and other cardiovascular-related traits. At the F7 locus, there was evidence of at least five independently associated SNPs in EAs and three independent signals in AAs. Though the variance in FVII explained by the existing loci is substantial (20\% in EA and 10\% in AA), larger sample sizes and investigation of lower frequency variants may be required to identify additional FVII-associated loci in EAs and AAs and further clarify the relationship between FVII and other CVD risk factors.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Cardiovascular Diseases, European Continental Ancestry Group, Factor VII, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddr264}, author = {Taylor, Kira C and Lange, Leslie A and Zabaneh, Delilah and Lange, Ethan and Keating, Brendan J and Tang, Weihong and Smith, Nicholas L and Delaney, Joseph A and Kumari, Meena and Hingorani, Aroon and North, Kari E and Kivimaki, Mika and Tracy, Russell P and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Folsom, Aaron R and Green, David and Humphries, Steve E and Reiner, Alexander P} } @article {6282, title = {Genome-wide and gene-centric analyses of circulating myeloperoxidase levels in the charge and care consortia.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {22}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Aug 15}, pages = {3381-93}, abstract = {

Increased systemic levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO) are associated with the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). To identify the genetic factors that are associated with circulating MPO levels, we carried out a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and a gene-centric analysis in subjects of European ancestry and African Americans (AAs). A locus on chromosome 1q31.1 containing the complement factor H (CFH) gene was strongly associated with serum MPO levels in 9305 subjects of European ancestry (lead SNP rs800292; P = 4.89 {\texttimes} 10(-41)) and in 1690 AA subjects (rs505102; P = 1.05 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). Gene-centric analyses in 8335 subjects of European ancestry additionally identified two rare MPO coding sequence variants that were associated with serum MPO levels (rs28730837, P = 5.21 {\texttimes} 10(-12); rs35897051, P = 3.32 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). A GWAS for plasma MPO levels in 9260 European ancestry subjects identified a chromosome 17q22 region near MPO that was significantly associated (lead SNP rs6503905; P = 2.94 {\texttimes} 10(-12)), but the CFH locus did not exhibit evidence of association with plasma MPO levels. Functional analyses revealed that rs800292 was associated with levels of complement proteins in serum. Variants at chromosome 17q22 also had pleiotropic cis effects on gene expression. In a case-control analysis of \~{}80 000 subjects from CARDIoGRAM, none of the identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were associated with CAD. These results suggest that distinct genetic factors regulate serum and plasma MPO levels, which may have relevance for various acute and chronic inflammatory disorders. The clinical implications for CAD and a better understanding of the functional basis for the association of CFH and MPO variants with circulating MPO levels require further study.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Case-Control Studies, Complement Factor H, Coronary Artery Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Peroxidase, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Young Adult}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddt189}, author = {Reiner, Alexander P and Hartiala, Jaana and Zeller, Tanja and Bis, Joshua C and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Fornage, Myriam and Baumert, Jens and Kleber, Marcus E and Wild, Philipp S and Baldus, Stephan and Bielinski, Suzette J and Fontes, Jo{\~a}o D and Illig, Thomas and Keating, Brendan J and Lange, Leslie A and Ojeda, Francisco and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Munzel, Thomas F and Psaty, Bruce M and Rice, Kenneth and Rotter, Jerome I and Schnabel, Renate B and Tang, W H Wilson and Thorand, Barbara and Erdmann, Jeanette and Jacobs, David R and Wilson, James G and Koenig, Wolfgang and Tracy, Russell P and Blankenberg, Stefan and M{\"a}rz, Winfried and Gross, Myron D and Benjamin, Emelia J and Hazen, Stanley L and Allayee, Hooman} } @article {1564, title = {Soluble CD14: genomewide association analysis and relationship to cardiovascular risk and mortality in older adults.}, journal = {Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol}, volume = {33}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jan}, pages = {158-64}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: CD14 is a glycosylphosphotidylinositol-anchored membrane glycoprotein expressed on neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages that also circulates as a soluble form (sCD14). Despite the well-recognized role of CD14 in inflammation, relatively little is known about the genetic determinants of sCD14 or the relationship of sCD14 to vascular- and aging-related phenotypes.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We measured baseline levels of sCD14 in >5000 European-American and black adults aged 65 years and older from the Cardiovascular Health Study, who were well characterized at baseline for atherosclerotic risk factors and subclinical cardiovascular disease, and who have been followed for clinical cardiovascular disease and mortality outcomes up to 20 years. At baseline, sCD14 generally showed strong positive correlations with traditional cardio-metabolic risk factors and with subclinical measures of vascular disease such as carotid wall thickness and ankle-brachial index (independently of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors), and was also inversely correlated with body mass index. In genomewide association analyses of sCD14, we (1) confirmed the importance of the CD14 locus on chromosome 5q21 in European-American; (2) identified a novel African ancestry-specific allele of CD14 associated with lower sCD14 in blacks; and (3) identified a putative novel association in European-American of a nonsynonymous variant of PIGC, which encodes an enzyme required for the first step in glycosylphosphotidylinositol anchor biosynthesis. Finally, we show that, like other acute phase inflammatory biomarkers, sCD14 predicts incident cardiovascular disease, and strongly and independently predicts all-cause mortality in older adults.

CONCLUSIONS: CD14 independently predicts risk mortality in older adults.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Age Factors, Aged, Biomarkers, Cardiovascular Diseases, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Haplotypes, Hexosyltransferases, Humans, Incidence, Inflammation Mediators, Linear Models, Lipopolysaccharide Receptors, Logistic Models, Male, Membrane Proteins, Multivariate Analysis, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Principal Component Analysis, Prognosis, Proportional Hazards Models, Prospective Studies, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Time Factors, United States}, issn = {1524-4636}, doi = {10.1161/ATVBAHA.112.300421}, author = {Reiner, Alex P and Lange, Ethan M and Jenny, Nancy S and Chaves, Paulo H M and Ellis, Jaclyn and Li, Jin and Walston, Jeremy and Lange, Leslie A and Cushman, Mary and Tracy, Russell P} } @article {6569, title = {Association between alcohol and cardiovascular disease: Mendelian randomisation analysis based on individual participant data.}, journal = {BMJ}, volume = {349}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jul 10}, pages = {g4164}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To use the rs1229984 variant in the alcohol dehydrogenase 1B gene (ADH1B) as an instrument to investigate the causal role of alcohol in cardiovascular disease.

DESIGN: Mendelian randomisation meta-analysis of 56 epidemiological studies.

PARTICIPANTS: 261 991 individuals of European descent, including 20 259 coronary heart disease cases and 10 164 stroke events. Data were available on ADH1B rs1229984 variant, alcohol phenotypes, and cardiovascular biomarkers.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds ratio for coronary heart disease and stroke associated with the ADH1B variant in all individuals and by categories of alcohol consumption.

RESULTS: Carriers of the A-allele of ADH1B rs1229984 consumed 17.2\% fewer units of alcohol per week (95\% confidence interval 15.6\% to 18.9\%), had a lower prevalence of binge drinking (odds ratio 0.78 (95\% CI 0.73 to 0.84)), and had higher abstention (odds ratio 1.27 (1.21 to 1.34)) than non-carriers. Rs1229984 A-allele carriers had lower systolic blood pressure (-0.88 (-1.19 to -0.56) mm Hg), interleukin-6 levels (-5.2\% (-7.8 to -2.4\%)), waist circumference (-0.3 (-0.6 to -0.1) cm), and body mass index (-0.17 (-0.24 to -0.10) kg/m(2)). Rs1229984 A-allele carriers had lower odds of coronary heart disease (odds ratio 0.90 (0.84 to 0.96)). The protective association of the ADH1B rs1229984 A-allele variant remained the same across all categories of alcohol consumption (P=0.83 for heterogeneity). Although no association of rs1229984 was identified with the combined subtypes of stroke, carriers of the A-allele had lower odds of ischaemic stroke (odds ratio 0.83 (0.72 to 0.95)).

CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with a genetic variant associated with non-drinking and lower alcohol consumption had a more favourable cardiovascular profile and a reduced risk of coronary heart disease than those without the genetic variant. This suggests that reduction of alcohol consumption, even for light to moderate drinkers, is beneficial for cardiovascular health.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Alcohol Dehydrogenase, Alcohol Drinking, Biomarkers, Coronary Disease, Female, Genetic Markers, Genotype, Humans, Male, Mendelian Randomization Analysis, Middle Aged, Models, Statistical, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Stroke}, issn = {1756-1833}, doi = {10.1136/bmj.g4164}, author = {Holmes, Michael V and Dale, Caroline E and Zuccolo, Luisa and Silverwood, Richard J and Guo, Yiran and Ye, Zheng and Prieto-Merino, David and Dehghan, Abbas and Trompet, Stella and Wong, Andrew and Cavadino, Alana and Drogan, Dagmar and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Li, Shanshan and Yesupriya, Ajay and Leusink, Maarten and Sundstr{\"o}m, Johan and Hubacek, Jaroslav A and Pikhart, Hynek and Swerdlow, Daniel I and Panayiotou, Andrie G and Borinskaya, Svetlana A and Finan, Chris and Shah, Sonia and Kuchenbaecker, Karoline B and Shah, Tina and Engmann, Jorgen and Folkersen, Lasse and Eriksson, Per and Ricceri, Fulvio and Melander, Olle and Sacerdote, Carlotta and Gamble, Dale M and Rayaprolu, Sruti and Ross, Owen A and McLachlan, Stela and Vikhireva, Olga and Sluijs, Ivonne and Scott, Robert A and Adamkova, Vera and Flicker, Leon and Bockxmeer, Frank M van and Power, Christine and Marques-Vidal, Pedro and Meade, Tom and Marmot, Michael G and Ferro, Jose M and Paulos-Pinheiro, Sofia and Humphries, Steve E and Talmud, Philippa J and Mateo Leach, Irene and Verweij, Niek and Linneberg, Allan and Skaaby, Tea and Doevendans, Pieter A and Cramer, Maarten J and van der Harst, Pim and Klungel, Olaf H and Dowling, Nicole F and Dominiczak, Anna F and Kumari, Meena and Nicolaides, Andrew N and Weikert, Cornelia and Boeing, Heiner and Ebrahim, Shah and Gaunt, Tom R and Price, Jackie F and Lannfelt, Lars and Peasey, Anne and Kubinova, Ruzena and Pajak, Andrzej and Malyutina, Sofia and Voevoda, Mikhail I and Tamosiunas, Abdonas and Maitland-van der Zee, Anke H and Norman, Paul E and Hankey, Graeme J and Bergmann, Manuela M and Hofman, Albert and Franco, Oscar H and Cooper, Jackie and Palmen, Jutta and Spiering, Wilko and de Jong, Pim A and Kuh, Diana and Hardy, Rebecca and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Ikram, M Arfan and Ford, Ian and Hypp{\"o}nen, Elina and Almeida, Osvaldo P and Wareham, Nicholas J and Khaw, Kay-Tee and Hamsten, Anders and Husemoen, Lise Lotte N and Tj{\o}nneland, Anne and Tolstrup, Janne S and Rimm, Eric and Beulens, Joline W J and Verschuren, W M Monique and Onland-Moret, N Charlotte and Hofker, Marten H and Wannamethee, S Goya and Whincup, Peter H and Morris, Richard and Vicente, Astrid M and Watkins, Hugh and Farrall, Martin and Jukema, J Wouter and Meschia, James and Cupples, L Adrienne and Sharp, Stephen J and Fornage, Myriam and Kooperberg, Charles and LaCroix, Andrea Z and Dai, James Y and Lanktree, Matthew B and Siscovick, David S and Jorgenson, Eric and Spring, Bonnie and Coresh, Josef and Li, Yun R and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Schreiner, Pamela J and Ellison, R Curtis and Tsai, Michael Y and Patel, Sanjay R and Redline, Susan and Johnson, Andrew D and Hoogeveen, Ron C and Hakonarson, Hakon and Rotter, Jerome I and Boerwinkle, Eric and de Bakker, Paul I W and Kivimaki, Mika and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Sattar, Naveed and Lawlor, Debbie A and Whittaker, John and Davey Smith, George and Mukamal, Kenneth and Psaty, Bruce M and Wilson, James G and Lange, Leslie A and Hamidovic, Ajna and Hingorani, Aroon D and Nordestgaard, B{\o}rge G and Bobak, Martin and Leon, David A and Langenberg, Claudia and Palmer, Tom M and Reiner, Alex P and Keating, Brendan J and Dudbridge, Frank and Casas, Juan P} } @article {6590, title = {Association of low-frequency and rare coding-sequence variants with blood lipids and coronary heart disease in 56,000 whites and blacks.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {94}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Feb 06}, pages = {223-32}, abstract = {

Low-frequency coding DNA sequence variants in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 gene (PCSK9) lower plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), protect against risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and have prompted the development of a new class of therapeutics. It is uncertain whether the PCSK9 example represents a paradigm or an isolated exception. We used the "Exome Array" to genotype >200,000 low-frequency and rare coding sequence variants across the genome in 56,538 individuals (42,208 European ancestry [EA] and 14,330 African ancestry [AA]) and tested these variants for association with LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides. Although we did not identify new genes associated with LDL-C, we did identify four low-frequency (frequencies between 0.1\% and 2\%) variants (ANGPTL8 rs145464906 [c.361C>T; p.Gln121*], PAFAH1B2 rs186808413 [c.482C>T; p.Ser161Leu], COL18A1 rs114139997 [c.331G>A; p.Gly111Arg], and PCSK7 rs142953140 [c.1511G>A; p.Arg504His]) with large effects on HDL-C and/or triglycerides. None of these four variants was associated with risk for CHD, suggesting that examples of low-frequency coding variants with robust effects on both lipids and CHD will be limited.

}, keywords = {1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase, Adult, African Continental Ancestry Group, Aged, Alleles, Animals, Cholesterol, HDL, Cholesterol, LDL, Cohort Studies, Coronary Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Code, Genetic Variation, Humans, Linear Models, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Microtubule-Associated Proteins, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Subtilisins, Triglycerides}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.01.009}, author = {Peloso, Gina M and Auer, Paul L and Bis, Joshua C and Voorman, Arend and Morrison, Alanna C and Stitziel, Nathan O and Brody, Jennifer A and Khetarpal, Sumeet A and Crosby, Jacy R and Fornage, Myriam and Isaacs, Aaron and Jakobsdottir, Johanna and Feitosa, Mary F and Davies, Gail and Huffman, Jennifer E and Manichaikul, Ani and Davis, Brian and Lohman, Kurt and Joon, Aron Y and Smith, Albert V and Grove, Megan L and Zanoni, Paolo and Redon, Valeska and Demissie, Serkalem and Lawson, Kim and Peters, Ulrike and Carlson, Christopher and Jackson, Rebecca D and Ryckman, Kelli K and Mackey, Rachel H and Robinson, Jennifer G and Siscovick, David S and Schreiner, Pamela J and Mychaleckyj, Josyf C and Pankow, James S and Hofman, Albert and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Harris, Tamara B and Taylor, Kent D and Stafford, Jeanette M and Reynolds, Lindsay M and Marioni, Riccardo E and Dehghan, Abbas and Franco, Oscar H and Patel, Aniruddh P and Lu, Yingchang and Hindy, George and Gottesman, Omri and Bottinger, Erwin P and Melander, Olle and Orho-Melander, Marju and Loos, Ruth J F and Duga, Stefano and Merlini, Piera Angelica and Farrall, Martin and Goel, Anuj and Asselta, Rosanna and Girelli, Domenico and Martinelli, Nicola and Shah, Svati H and Kraus, William E and Li, Mingyao and Rader, Daniel J and Reilly, Muredach P and McPherson, Ruth and Watkins, Hugh and Ardissino, Diego and Zhang, Qunyuan and Wang, Judy and Tsai, Michael Y and Taylor, Herman A and Correa, Adolfo and Griswold, Michael E and Lange, Leslie A and Starr, John M and Rudan, Igor and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Launer, Lenore J and Ordovas, Jose M and Levy, Daniel and Chen, Y-D Ida and Reiner, Alexander P and Hayward, Caroline and Polasek, Ozren and Deary, Ian J and Borecki, Ingrid B and Liu, Yongmei and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Wilson, James G and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Kooperberg, Charles and Rich, Stephen S and Psaty, Bruce M and Rotter, Jerome I and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Rice, Kenneth and Boerwinkle, Eric and Kathiresan, Sekar and Cupples, L Adrienne} } @article {6368, title = {Gene-centric meta-analyses for central adiposity traits in up to 57 412 individuals of European descent confirm known loci and reveal several novel associations.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {23}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 May 01}, pages = {2498-510}, abstract = {

Waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are surrogate measures of central adiposity that are associated with adverse cardiovascular events, type 2 diabetes and cancer independent of body mass index (BMI). WC and WHR are highly heritable with multiple susceptibility loci identified to date. We assessed the association between SNPs and BMI-adjusted WC and WHR and unadjusted WC in up to 57 412 individuals of European descent from 22 cohorts collaborating with the NHLBI{\textquoteright}s Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) project. The study population consisted of women and men aged 20-80 years. Study participants were genotyped using the ITMAT/Broad/CARE array, which includes \~{}50 000 cosmopolitan tagged SNPs across \~{}2100 cardiovascular-related genes. Each trait was modeled as a function of age, study site and principal components to control for population stratification, and we conducted a fixed-effects meta-analysis. No new loci for WC were observed. For WHR analyses, three novel loci were significantly associated (P < 2.4 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). Previously unreported rs2811337-G near TMCC1 was associated with increased WHR (β {\textpm} SE, 0.048 {\textpm} 0.008, P = 7.7 {\texttimes} 10(-9)) as was rs7302703-G in HOXC10 (β = 0.044 {\textpm} 0.008, P = 2.9 {\texttimes} 10(-7)) and rs936108-C in PEMT (β = 0.035 {\textpm} 0.007, P = 1.9 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). Sex-stratified analyses revealed two additional novel signals among females only, rs12076073-A in SHC1 (β = 0.10 {\textpm} 0.02, P = 1.9 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) and rs1037575-A in ATBDB4 (β = 0.046 {\textpm} 0.01, P = 2.2 {\texttimes} 10(-6)), supporting an already established sexual dimorphism of central adiposity-related genetic variants. Functional analysis using ENCODE and eQTL databases revealed that several of these loci are in regulatory regions or regions with differential expression in adipose tissue.

}, keywords = {Adiposity, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Body Mass Index, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Waist Circumference, Waist-Hip Ratio, Young Adult}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddt626}, author = {Yoneyama, Sachiko and Guo, Yiran and Lanktree, Matthew B and Barnes, Michael R and Elbers, Clara C and Karczewski, Konrad J and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Bauer, Florianne and Baumert, Jens and Beitelshees, Amber and Berenson, Gerald S and Boer, Jolanda M A and Burke, Gregory and Cade, Brian and Chen, Wei and Cooper-Dehoff, Rhonda M and Gaunt, Tom R and Gieger, Christian and Gong, Yan and Gorski, Mathias and Heard-Costa, Nancy and Johnson, Toby and Lamonte, Michael J and McDonough, Caitrin and Monda, Keri L and Onland-Moret, N Charlotte and Nelson, Christopher P and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Ordovas, Jose and Peter, Inga and Peters, Annette and Shaffer, Jonathan and Shen, Haiqinq and Smith, Erin and Speilotes, Liz and Thomas, Fridtjof and Thorand, Barbara and Monique Verschuren, W M and Anand, Sonia S and Dominiczak, Anna and Davidson, Karina W and Hegele, Robert A and Heid, Iris and Hofker, Marten H and Huggins, Gordon S and Illig, Thomas and Johnson, Julie A and Kirkland, Susan and K{\"o}nig, Wolfgang and Langaee, Taimour Y and McCaffery, Jeanne and Melander, Olle and Mitchell, Braxton D and Munroe, Patricia and Murray, Sarah S and Papanicolaou, George and Redline, Susan and Reilly, Muredach and Samani, Nilesh J and Schork, Nicholas J and van der Schouw, Yvonne T and Shimbo, Daichi and Shuldiner, Alan R and Tobin, Martin D and Wijmenga, Cisca and Yusuf, Salim and Hakonarson, Hakon and Lange, Leslie A and Demerath, Ellen W and Fox, Caroline S and North, Kari E and Reiner, Alex P and Keating, Brendan and Taylor, Kira C} } @article {6558, title = {Large multiethnic Candidate Gene Study for C-reactive protein levels: identification of a novel association at CD36 in African Americans.}, journal = {Hum Genet}, volume = {133}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Aug}, pages = {985-95}, abstract = {

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a heritable biomarker of systemic inflammation and a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Large-scale genetic association studies for CRP have largely focused on individuals of European descent. We sought to uncover novel genetic variants for CRP in a multiethnic sample using the ITMAT Broad-CARe (IBC) array, a custom 50,000 SNP gene-centric array having dense coverage of over 2,000 candidate CVD genes. We performed analyses on 7,570 African Americans (AA) from the Candidate gene Association Resource (CARe) study and race-combined meta-analyses that included 29,939 additional individuals of European descent from CARe, the Women{\textquoteright}s Health Initiative (WHI) and KORA studies. We observed array-wide significance (p < 2.2 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) for four loci in AA, three of which have been reported previously in individuals of European descent (IL6R, p = 2.0 {\texttimes} 10(-6); CRP, p = 4.2 {\texttimes} 10(-71); APOE, p = 1.6 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). The fourth significant locus, CD36 (p = 1.6 {\texttimes} 10(-6)), was observed at a functional variant (rs3211938) that is extremely rare in individuals of European descent. We replicated the CD36 finding (p = 1.8 {\texttimes} 10(-5)) in an independent sample of 8,041 AA women from WHI; a meta-analysis combining the CARe and WHI AA results at rs3211938 reached genome-wide significance (p = 1.5 {\texttimes} 10(-10)). In the race-combined meta-analyses, 13 loci reached significance, including ten (CRP, TOMM40/APOE/APOC1, HNF1A, LEPR, GCKR, IL6R, IL1RN, NLRP3, HNF4A and BAZ1B/BCL7B) previously associated with CRP, and one (ARNTL) previously reported to be nominally associated with CRP. Two novel loci were also detected (RPS6KB1, p = 2.0 {\texttimes} 10(-6); CD36, p = 1.4 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). These results highlight both shared and unique genetic risk factors for CRP in AA compared to populations of European descent.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Biomarkers, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, CD36 Antigens, Female, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetics, Population, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1432-1203}, doi = {10.1007/s00439-014-1439-z}, author = {Ellis, Jaclyn and Lange, Ethan M and Li, Jin and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Baumert, Jens and Walston, Jeremy D and Keating, Brendan J and Durda, Peter and Fox, Ervin R and Palmer, Cameron D and Meng, Yan A and Young, Taylor and Farlow, Deborah N and Schnabel, Renate B and Marzi, Carola S and Larkin, Emma and Martin, Lisa W and Bis, Joshua C and Auer, Paul and Ramachandran, Vasan S and Gabriel, Stacey B and Willis, Monte S and Pankow, James S and Papanicolaou, George J and Rotter, Jerome I and Ballantyne, Christie M and Gross, Myron D and Lettre, Guillaume and Wilson, James G and Peters, Ulrike and Koenig, Wolfgang and Tracy, Russell P and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alex P and Benjamin, Emelia J and Lange, Leslie A} } @article {6583, title = {Sequencing of SCN5A identifies rare and common variants associated with cardiac conduction: Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {7}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jun}, pages = {365-73}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The cardiac sodium channel SCN5A regulates atrioventricular and ventricular conduction. Genetic variants in this gene are associated with PR and QRS intervals. We sought to characterize further the contribution of rare and common coding variation in SCN5A to cardiac conduction.

METHODS AND RESULTS: In Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium Targeted Sequencing Study, we performed targeted exonic sequencing of SCN5A (n=3699, European ancestry individuals) and identified 4 common (minor allele frequency >1\%) and 157 rare variants. Common and rare SCN5A coding variants were examined for association with PR and QRS intervals through meta-analysis of European ancestry participants from CHARGE, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute{\textquoteright}s Exome Sequencing Project (n=607), and the UK10K (n=1275) and by examining Exome Sequencing Project African ancestry participants (n=972). Rare coding SCN5A variants in aggregate were associated with PR interval in European and African ancestry participants (P=1.3{\texttimes}10(-3)). Three common variants were associated with PR and QRS interval duration among European ancestry participants and one among African ancestry participants. These included 2 well-known missense variants: rs1805124 (H558R) was associated with PR and QRS shortening in European ancestry participants (P=6.25{\texttimes}10(-4) and P=5.2{\texttimes}10(-3), respectively) and rs7626962 (S1102Y) was associated with PR shortening in those of African ancestry (P=2.82{\texttimes}10(-3)). Among European ancestry participants, 2 novel synonymous variants, rs1805126 and rs6599230, were associated with cardiac conduction. Our top signal, rs1805126 was associated with PR and QRS lengthening (P=3.35{\texttimes}10(-7) and P=2.69{\texttimes}10(-4), respectively) and rs6599230 was associated with PR shortening (P=2.67{\texttimes}10(-5)).

CONCLUSIONS: By sequencing SCN5A, we identified novel common and rare coding variants associated with cardiac conduction.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Cohort Studies, Female, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genomics, Heart Conduction System, Heart Diseases, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Sequence Analysis, DNA}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.113.000098}, author = {Magnani, Jared W and Brody, Jennifer A and Prins, Bram P and Arking, Dan E and Lin, Honghuang and Yin, Xiaoyan and Liu, Ching-Ti and Morrison, Alanna C and Zhang, Feng and Spector, Tim D and Alonso, Alvaro and Bis, Joshua C and Heckbert, Susan R and Lumley, Thomas and Sitlani, Colleen M and Cupples, L Adrienne and Lubitz, Steven A and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Pulit, Sara L and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Ellinor, Patrick T and Benjamin, Emelia J and Muzny, Donna M and Gibbs, Richard A and Santibanez, Jireh and Taylor, Herman A and Rotter, Jerome I and Lange, Leslie A and Psaty, Bruce M and Jackson, Rebecca and Rich, Stephen S and Boerwinkle, Eric and Jamshidi, Yalda and Sotoodehnia, Nona} } @article {6577, title = {Whole-exome sequencing identifies rare and low-frequency coding variants associated with LDL cholesterol.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {94}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Feb 06}, pages = {233-45}, abstract = {

Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a treatable, heritable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified 157 variants associated with lipid levels but are not well suited to assess the impact of rare and low-frequency variants. To determine whether rare or low-frequency coding variants are associated with LDL-C, we exome sequenced 2,005 individuals, including 554 individuals selected for extreme LDL-C (>98(th) or <2(nd) percentile). Follow-up analyses included sequencing of 1,302 additional individuals and genotype-based analysis of 52,221 individuals. We observed significant evidence of association between LDL-C and the burden of rare or low-frequency variants in PNPLA5, encoding a phospholipase-domain-containing protein, and both known and previously unidentified variants in PCSK9, LDLR and APOB, three known lipid-related genes. The effect sizes for the burden of rare variants for each associated gene were substantially higher than those observed for individual SNPs identified from GWASs. We replicated the PNPLA5 signal in an independent large-scale sequencing study of 2,084 individuals. In conclusion, this large whole-exome-sequencing study for LDL-C identified a gene not known to be implicated in LDL-C and provides unique insight into the design and analysis of similar experiments.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Apolipoproteins E, Cholesterol, LDL, Cohort Studies, Dyslipidemias, Exome, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Gene Frequency, Genetic Code, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Lipase, Male, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proprotein Convertase 9, Proprotein Convertases, Receptors, LDL, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Serine Endopeptidases}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.01.010}, author = {Lange, Leslie A and Hu, Youna and Zhang, He and Xue, Chenyi and Schmidt, Ellen M and Tang, Zheng-Zheng and Bizon, Chris and Lange, Ethan M and Smith, Joshua D and Turner, Emily H and Jun, Goo and Kang, Hyun Min and Peloso, Gina and Auer, Paul and Li, Kuo-Ping and Flannick, Jason and Zhang, Ji and Fuchsberger, Christian and Gaulton, Kyle and Lindgren, Cecilia and Locke, Adam and Manning, Alisa and Sim, Xueling and Rivas, Manuel A and Holmen, Oddgeir L and Gottesman, Omri and Lu, Yingchang and Ruderfer, Douglas and Stahl, Eli A and Duan, Qing and Li, Yun and Durda, Peter and Jiao, Shuo and Isaacs, Aaron and Hofman, Albert and Bis, Joshua C and Correa, Adolfo and Griswold, Michael E and Jakobsdottir, Johanna and Smith, Albert V and Schreiner, Pamela J and Feitosa, Mary F and Zhang, Qunyuan and Huffman, Jennifer E and Crosby, Jacy and Wassel, Christina L and Do, Ron and Franceschini, Nora and Martin, Lisa W and Robinson, Jennifer G and Assimes, Themistocles L and Crosslin, David R and Rosenthal, Elisabeth A and Tsai, Michael and Rieder, Mark J and Farlow, Deborah N and Folsom, Aaron R and Lumley, Thomas and Fox, Ervin R and Carlson, Christopher S and Peters, Ulrike and Jackson, Rebecca D and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Levy, Daniel and Rotter, Jerome I and Taylor, Herman A and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Siscovick, David S and Fornage, Myriam and Borecki, Ingrid B and Hayward, Caroline and Rudan, Igor and Chen, Y Eugene and Bottinger, Erwin P and Loos, Ruth J F and S{\ae}trom, P{\r a}l and Hveem, Kristian and Boehnke, Michael and Groop, Leif and McCarthy, Mark and Meitinger, Thomas and Ballantyne, Christie M and Gabriel, Stacey B and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Post, Wendy S and North, Kari E and Reiner, Alexander P and Boerwinkle, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Altshuler, David and Kathiresan, Sekar and Lin, Dan-Yu and Jarvik, Gail P and Cupples, L Adrienne and Kooperberg, Charles and Wilson, James G and Nickerson, Deborah A and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Rich, Stephen S and Tracy, Russell P and Willer, Cristen J} } @article {6875, title = {Drug-Gene Interactions of Antihypertensive Medications and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease: A Pharmacogenomics Study from the CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {10}, year = {2015}, month = {2015}, pages = {e0140496}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a major risk factor for a spectrum of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including myocardial infarction, sudden death, and stroke. In the US, over 65 million people have high blood pressure and a large proportion of these individuals are prescribed antihypertensive medications. Although large long-term clinical trials conducted in the last several decades have identified a number of effective antihypertensive treatments that reduce the risk of future clinical complications, responses to therapy and protection from cardiovascular events vary among individuals.

METHODS: Using a genome-wide association study among 21,267 participants with pharmaceutically treated hypertension, we explored the hypothesis that genetic variants might influence or modify the effectiveness of common antihypertensive therapies on the risk of major cardiovascular outcomes. The classes of drug treatments included angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics. In the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, each study performed array-based genome-wide genotyping, imputed to HapMap Phase II reference panels, and used additive genetic models in proportional hazards or logistic regression models to evaluate drug-gene interactions for each of four therapeutic drug classes. We used meta-analysis to combine study-specific interaction estimates for approximately 2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a discovery analysis among 15,375 European Ancestry participants (3,527 CVD cases) with targeted follow-up in a case-only study of 1,751 European Ancestry GenHAT participants as well as among 4,141 African-Americans (1,267 CVD cases).

RESULTS: Although drug-SNP interactions were biologically plausible, exposures and outcomes were well measured, and power was sufficient to detect modest interactions, we did not identify any statistically significant interactions from the four antihypertensive therapy meta-analyses (Pinteraction > 5.0{\texttimes}10-8). Similarly, findings were null for meta-analyses restricted to 66 SNPs with significant main effects on coronary artery disease or blood pressure from large published genome-wide association studies (Pinteraction >= 0.01). Our results suggest that there are no major pharmacogenetic influences of common SNPs on the relationship between blood pressure medications and the risk of incident CVD.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Antihypertensive Agents, Cardiovascular Diseases, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Hypertension, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Treatment Outcome}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0140496}, author = {Bis, Joshua C and Sitlani, Colleen and Irvin, Ryan and Avery, Christy L and Smith, Albert Vernon and Sun, Fangui and Evans, Daniel S and Musani, Solomon K and Li, Xiaohui and Trompet, Stella and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Harris, Tamara B and Quibrera, P Miguel and Brody, Jennifer A and Demissie, Serkalem and Davis, Barry R and Wiggins, Kerri L and Tranah, Gregory J and Lange, Leslie A and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Stott, David J and Franco, Oscar H and Launer, Lenore J and St{\"u}rmer, Til and Taylor, Kent D and Cupples, L Adrienne and Eckfeldt, John H and Smith, Nicholas L and Liu, Yongmei and Wilson, James G and Heckbert, Susan R and Buckley, Brendan M and Ikram, M Arfan and Boerwinkle, Eric and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and de Craen, Anton J M and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Rotter, Jerome I and Ford, Ian and Hofman, Albert and Sattar, Naveed and Slagboom, P Eline and Westendorp, Rudi G J and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Lumley, Thomas and Cummings, Steven R and Taylor, Herman A and Post, Wendy and Jukema, J Wouter and Stricker, Bruno H and Whitsel, Eric A and Psaty, Bruce M and Arnett, Donna} } @article {7376, title = {Gene-centric approach identifies new and known loci for FVIII activity and VWF antigen levels in European Americans and African Americans.}, journal = {Am J Hematol}, volume = {90}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Jun}, pages = {534-40}, abstract = {

Coagulation factor VIII and von Willebrand factor (VWF) are key proteins in procoagulant activation. Higher FVIII coagulant activity (FVIII :C) and VWF antigen (VWF :Ag) are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and venous thromboembolism. Beyond associations with ABO blood group, genetic determinants of FVIII and VWF are not well understood, especially in non European-American populations. We performed a genetic association study of FVIII :C and VWF:Ag that assessed 50,000 gene-centric single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 18,556 European Americans (EAs) and 5,047 African Americans (AAs) from five population-based cohorts. Previously unreported associations for FVIII :C were identified in both AAs and EAs with KNG1 (most significantly associated SNP rs710446, Ile581Thr, Ile581Thr, P = 5.10 {\texttimes} 10(-7) in EAs and P = 3.88 {\texttimes} 10(-3) in AAs) and VWF rs7962217 (Gly2705Arg,P = 6.30 {\texttimes} 10(-9) in EAs and P = 2.98 {\texttimes} 10(-2) in AAs. Significant associations for FVIII :C were also observed with F8/TMLHE region SNP rs12557310 in EAs (P = 8.02 {\texttimes} 10(-10) ), with VWF rs1800380 in AAs (P = 5.62 {\texttimes} 10(-11) ), and with MAT1A rs2236568 in AAs (P51.69 {\texttimes} 10(-6) ). We replicated previously reported associations of FVIII :C and VWF :Ag with the ABO blood group, VWF rs1063856(Thr789Ala), rs216321 (Ala852Gln), and VWF rs2229446 (Arg2185Gln). Findings from this study expand our understanding of genetic influences for FVIII :C and VWF :Ag in both EAs and AAs.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, European Continental Ancestry Group, Factor VIII, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Methionine Adenosyltransferase, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Venous Thromboembolism, von Willebrand Factor}, issn = {1096-8652}, doi = {10.1002/ajh.24005}, author = {Tang, Weihong and Cushman, Mary and Green, David and Rich, Stephen S and Lange, Leslie A and Yang, Qiong and Tracy, Russell P and Tofler, Geoffrey H and Basu, Saonli and Wilson, James G and Keating, Brendan J and Weng, Lu-Chen and Taylor, Herman A and Jacobs, David R and Delaney, Joseph A and Palmer, Cameron D and Young, Taylor and Pankow, James S and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Smith, Nicholas L and Reiner, Alexander P and Folsom, Aaron R} } @article {6863, title = {HMG-coenzyme A reductase inhibition, type 2 diabetes, and bodyweight: evidence from genetic analysis and randomised trials.}, journal = {Lancet}, volume = {385}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Jan 24}, pages = {351-61}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Statins increase the risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus. We aimed to assess whether this increase in risk is a consequence of inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR), the intended drug target.

METHODS: We used single nucleotide polymorphisms in the HMGCR gene, rs17238484 (for the main analysis) and rs12916 (for a subsidiary analysis) as proxies for HMGCR inhibition by statins. We examined associations of these variants with plasma lipid, glucose, and insulin concentrations; bodyweight; waist circumference; and prevalent and incident type 2 diabetes. Study-specific effect estimates per copy of each LDL-lowering allele were pooled by meta-analysis. These findings were compared with a meta-analysis of new-onset type 2 diabetes and bodyweight change data from randomised trials of statin drugs. The effects of statins in each randomised trial were assessed using meta-analysis.

FINDINGS: Data were available for up to 223 463 individuals from 43 genetic studies. Each additional rs17238484-G allele was associated with a mean 0{\textperiodcentered}06 mmol/L (95\% CI 0{\textperiodcentered}05-0{\textperiodcentered}07) lower LDL cholesterol and higher body weight (0{\textperiodcentered}30 kg, 0{\textperiodcentered}18-0{\textperiodcentered}43), waist circumference (0{\textperiodcentered}32 cm, 0{\textperiodcentered}16-0{\textperiodcentered}47), plasma insulin concentration (1{\textperiodcentered}62\%, 0{\textperiodcentered}53-2{\textperiodcentered}72), and plasma glucose concentration (0{\textperiodcentered}23\%, 0{\textperiodcentered}02-0{\textperiodcentered}44). The rs12916 SNP had similar effects on LDL cholesterol, bodyweight, and waist circumference. The rs17238484-G allele seemed to be associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio [OR] per allele 1{\textperiodcentered}02, 95\% CI 1{\textperiodcentered}00-1{\textperiodcentered}05); the rs12916-T allele association was consistent (1{\textperiodcentered}06, 1{\textperiodcentered}03-1{\textperiodcentered}09). In 129 170 individuals in randomised trials, statins lowered LDL cholesterol by 0{\textperiodcentered}92 mmol/L (95\% CI 0{\textperiodcentered}18-1{\textperiodcentered}67) at 1-year of follow-up, increased bodyweight by 0{\textperiodcentered}24 kg (95\% CI 0{\textperiodcentered}10-0{\textperiodcentered}38 in all trials; 0{\textperiodcentered}33 kg, 95\% CI 0{\textperiodcentered}24-0{\textperiodcentered}42 in placebo or standard care controlled trials and -0{\textperiodcentered}15 kg, 95\% CI -0{\textperiodcentered}39 to 0{\textperiodcentered}08 in intensive-dose vs moderate-dose trials) at a mean of 4{\textperiodcentered}2 years (range 1{\textperiodcentered}9-6{\textperiodcentered}7) of follow-up, and increased the odds of new-onset type 2 diabetes (OR 1{\textperiodcentered}12, 95\% CI 1{\textperiodcentered}06-1{\textperiodcentered}18 in all trials; 1{\textperiodcentered}11, 95\% CI 1{\textperiodcentered}03-1{\textperiodcentered}20 in placebo or standard care controlled trials and 1{\textperiodcentered}12, 95\% CI 1{\textperiodcentered}04-1{\textperiodcentered}22 in intensive-dose vs moderate dose trials).

INTERPRETATION: The increased risk of type 2 diabetes noted with statins is at least partially explained by HMGCR inhibition.

FUNDING: The funding sources are cited at the end of the paper.

}, keywords = {Aged, Body Mass Index, Body Weight, Cholesterol, HDL, Cholesterol, LDL, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Genetic Testing, Humans, Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Risk Factors}, issn = {1474-547X}, doi = {10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61183-1}, author = {Swerdlow, Daniel I and Preiss, David and Kuchenbaecker, Karoline B and Holmes, Michael V and Engmann, Jorgen E L and Shah, Tina and Sofat, Reecha and Stender, Stefan and Johnson, Paul C D and Scott, Robert A and Leusink, Maarten and Verweij, Niek and Sharp, Stephen J and Guo, Yiran and Giambartolomei, Claudia and Chung, Christina and Peasey, Anne and Amuzu, Antoinette and Li, KaWah and Palmen, Jutta and Howard, Philip and Cooper, Jackie A and Drenos, Fotios and Li, Yun R and Lowe, Gordon and Gallacher, John and Stewart, Marlene C W and Tzoulaki, Ioanna and Buxbaum, Sarah G and van der A, Daphne L and Forouhi, Nita G and Onland-Moret, N Charlotte and van der Schouw, Yvonne T and Schnabel, Renate B and Hubacek, Jaroslav A and Kubinova, Ruzena and Baceviciene, Migle and Tamosiunas, Abdonas and Pajak, Andrzej and Topor-Madry, Roman and Stepaniak, Urszula and Malyutina, Sofia and Baldassarre, Damiano and Sennblad, Bengt and Tremoli, Elena and de Faire, Ulf and Veglia, Fabrizio and Ford, Ian and Jukema, J Wouter and Westendorp, Rudi G J and de Borst, Gert Jan and de Jong, Pim A and Algra, Ale and Spiering, Wilko and Maitland-van der Zee, Anke H and Klungel, Olaf H and de Boer, Anthonius and Doevendans, Pieter A and Eaton, Charles B and Robinson, Jennifer G and Duggan, David and Kjekshus, John and Downs, John R and Gotto, Antonio M and Keech, Anthony C and Marchioli, Roberto and Tognoni, Gianni and Sever, Peter S and Poulter, Neil R and Waters, David D and Pedersen, Terje R and Amarenco, Pierre and Nakamura, Haruo and McMurray, John J V and Lewsey, James D and Chasman, Daniel I and Ridker, Paul M and Maggioni, Aldo P and Tavazzi, Luigi and Ray, Kausik K and Seshasai, Sreenivasa Rao Kondapally and Manson, JoAnn E and Price, Jackie F and Whincup, Peter H and Morris, Richard W and Lawlor, Debbie A and Smith, George Davey and Ben-Shlomo, Yoav and Schreiner, Pamela J and Fornage, Myriam and Siscovick, David S and Cushman, Mary and Kumari, Meena and Wareham, Nick J and Verschuren, W M Monique and Redline, Susan and Patel, Sanjay R and Whittaker, John C and Hamsten, Anders and Delaney, Joseph A and Dale, Caroline and Gaunt, Tom R and Wong, Andrew and Kuh, Diana and Hardy, Rebecca and Kathiresan, Sekar and Castillo, Berta A and van der Harst, Pim and Brunner, Eric J and Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne and Marmot, Michael G and Krauss, Ronald M and Tsai, Michael and Coresh, Josef and Hoogeveen, Ronald C and Psaty, Bruce M and Lange, Leslie A and Hakonarson, Hakon and Dudbridge, Frank and Humphries, Steve E and Talmud, Philippa J and Kivimaki, Mika and Timpson, Nicholas J and Langenberg, Claudia and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Voevoda, Mikhail and Bobak, Martin and Pikhart, Hynek and Wilson, James G and Reiner, Alex P and Keating, Brendan J and Hingorani, Aroon D and Sattar, Naveed} } @article {6809, title = {Plasma Levels of Soluble Interleukin-2 Receptor α: Associations With Clinical Cardiovascular Events and Genome-Wide Association Scan.}, journal = {Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol}, volume = {35}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Oct}, pages = {2246-53}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: Interleukin (IL) -2 receptor subunit α regulates lymphocyte activation, which plays an important role in atherosclerosis. Associations between soluble IL-2Rα (sIL-2Rα) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have not been widely studied and little is known about the genetic determinants of sIL-2Rα levels.

APPROACH AND RESULTS: We measured baseline levels of sIL-2Rα in 4408 European American (EA) and 766 African American (AA) adults from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) and examined associations with baseline CVD risk factors, subclinical CVD, and incident CVD events. We also performed a genome-wide association study for sIL-2Rα in CHS (2964 EAs and 683 AAs) and further combined CHS EA results with those from two other EA cohorts in a meta-analysis (n=4464 EAs). In age, sex- and race- adjusted models, sIL-2Rα was positively associated with current smoking, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, insulin, waist circumference, C-reactive protein, IL-6, fibrinogen, internal carotid wall thickness, all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and incident CVD, stroke, and heart failure. When adjusted for baseline CVD risk factors and subclinical CVD, associations with all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and heart failure remained significant in both EAs and AAs. In the EA genome-wide association study analysis, we observed 52 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the chromosome 10p15-14 region, which contains IL2RA, IL15RA, and RMB17, that reached genome-wide significance (P<5{\texttimes}10(-8)). The most significant single-nucleotide polymorphism was rs7911500 (P=1.31{\texttimes}10(-75)). The EA meta-analysis results were highly consistent with CHS-only results. No single-nucleotide polymorphisms reached statistical significance in the AAs.

CONCLUSIONS: These results support a role for sIL-2Rα in atherosclerosis and provide evidence for multiple-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms at chromosome 10p15-14.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Age Distribution, Aged, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cohort Studies, Coronary Artery Disease, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Incidence, Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proportional Hazards Models, Prospective Studies, Risk Assessment, Sex Distribution, Survival Analysis}, issn = {1524-4636}, doi = {10.1161/ATVBAHA.115.305289}, author = {Durda, Peter and Sabourin, Jeremy and Lange, Ethan M and Nalls, Mike A and Mychaleckyj, Josyf C and Jenny, Nancy Swords and Li, Jin and Walston, Jeremy and Harris, Tamara B and Psaty, Bruce M and Valdar, William and Liu, Yongmei and Cushman, Mary and Reiner, Alex P and Tracy, Russell P and Lange, Leslie A} } @article {6849, title = {Rare and Coding Region Genetic Variants Associated With Risk of Ischemic Stroke: The NHLBI Exome Sequence Project.}, journal = {JAMA Neurol}, volume = {72}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Jul}, pages = {781-8}, abstract = {

IMPORTANCE: Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of years of life lost. Genetic factors contribute to stroke prevalence, and candidate gene and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified variants associated with ischemic stroke risk. These variants often have small effects without obvious biological significance. Exome sequencing may discover predicted protein-altering variants with a potentially large effect on ischemic stroke risk.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the contribution of rare and common genetic variants to ischemic stroke risk by targeting the protein-coding regions of the human genome.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Exome Sequencing Project (ESP) analyzed approximately 6000 participants from numerous cohorts of European and African ancestry. For discovery, 365 cases of ischemic stroke (small-vessel and large-vessel subtypes) and 809 European ancestry controls were sequenced; for replication, 47 affected sibpairs concordant for stroke subtype and an African American case-control series were sequenced, with 1672 cases and 4509 European ancestry controls genotyped. The ESP{\textquoteright}s exome sequencing and genotyping started on January 1, 2010, and continued through June 30, 2012. Analyses were conducted on the full data set between July 12, 2012, and July 13, 2013.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Discovery of new variants or genes contributing to ischemic stroke risk and subtype (primary analysis) and determination of support for protein-coding variants contributing to risk in previously published candidate genes (secondary analysis).

RESULTS: We identified 2 novel genes associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke: a protein-coding variant in PDE4DIP (rs1778155; odds ratio, 2.15; P = 2.63 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) with an intracellular signal transduction mechanism and in ACOT4 (rs35724886; odds ratio, 2.04; P = 1.24 {\texttimes} 10(-7)) with a fatty acid metabolism; confirmation of PDE4DIP was observed in affected sibpair families with large-vessel stroke subtype and in African Americans. Replication of protein-coding variants in candidate genes was observed for 2 previously reported GWAS associations: ZFHX3 (cardioembolic stroke) and ABCA1 (large-vessel stroke).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Exome sequencing discovered 2 novel genes and mechanisms, PDE4DIP and ACOT4, associated with increased risk for ischemic stroke. In addition, ZFHX3 and ABCA1 were discovered to have protein-coding variants associated with ischemic stroke. These results suggest that genetic variation in novel pathways contributes to ischemic stroke risk and serves as a target for prediction, prevention, and therapy.

}, keywords = {Aged, Brain Ischemia, Exome, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Muscle Proteins, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.), Nuclear Proteins, Open Reading Frames, Palmitoyl-CoA Hydrolase, Stroke, United States}, issn = {2168-6157}, doi = {10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.0582}, author = {Auer, Paul L and Nalls, Mike and Meschia, James F and Worrall, Bradford B and Longstreth, W T and Seshadri, Sudha and Kooperberg, Charles and Burger, Kathleen M and Carlson, Christopher S and Carty, Cara L and Chen, Wei-Min and Cupples, L Adrienne and DeStefano, Anita L and Fornage, Myriam and Hardy, John and Hsu, Li and Jackson, Rebecca D and Jarvik, Gail P and Kim, Daniel S and Lakshminarayan, Kamakshi and Lange, Leslie A and Manichaikul, Ani and Quinlan, Aaron R and Singleton, Andrew B and Thornton, Timothy A and Nickerson, Deborah A and Peters, Ulrike and Rich, Stephen S} } @article {8639, title = {Whole genome sequence analysis of pulmonary function and COPD in 19,996 multi-ethnic participants.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {11}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 10 14}, pages = {5182}, abstract = {

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diagnosed by reduced lung function, is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. We performed whole genome sequence (WGS) analysis of lung function and COPD in a multi-ethnic sample of 11,497 participants from population- and family-based studies, and 8499 individuals from COPD-enriched studies in the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program. We identify at genome-wide significance 10 known GWAS loci and 22 distinct, previously unreported loci, including two common variant signals from stratified analysis of African Americans. Four novel common variants within the regions of PIAS1, RGN (two variants) and FTO show evidence of replication in the UK Biobank (European ancestry n ~ 320,000), while colocalization analyses leveraging multi-omic data from GTEx and TOPMed identify potential molecular mechanisms underlying four of the 22 novel loci. Our study demonstrates the value of performing WGS analyses and multi-omic follow-up in cohorts of diverse ancestry.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO, Calcium-Binding Proteins, Feasibility Studies, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Lung, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Protein Inhibitors of Activated STAT, Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive, Respiratory Physiological Phenomena, Small Ubiquitin-Related Modifier Proteins, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-18334-7}, author = {Zhao, Xutong and Qiao, Dandi and Yang, Chaojie and Kasela, Silva and Kim, Wonji and Ma, Yanlin and Shrine, Nick and Batini, Chiara and Sofer, Tamar and Taliun, Sarah A Gagliano and Sakornsakolpat, Phuwanat and Balte, Pallavi P and Prokopenko, Dmitry and Yu, Bing and Lange, Leslie A and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Cade, Brian E and Lee, Jiwon and Gharib, Sina A and Daya, Michelle and Laurie, Cecelia A and Ruczinski, Ingo and Cupples, L Adrienne and Loehr, Laura R and Bartz, Traci M and Morrison, Alanna C and Psaty, Bruce M and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Wilson, James G and Taylor, Kent D and Durda, Peter and Johnson, W Craig and Cornell, Elaine and Guo, Xiuqing and Liu, Yongmei and Tracy, Russell P and Ardlie, Kristin G and Aguet, Francois and VanDenBerg, David J and Papanicolaou, George J and Rotter, Jerome I and Barnes, Kathleen C and Jain, Deepti and Nickerson, Deborah A and Muzny, Donna M and Metcalf, Ginger A and Doddapaneni, Harshavardhan and Dugan-Perez, Shannon and Gupta, Namrata and Gabriel, Stacey and Rich, Stephen S and O{\textquoteright}Connor, George T and Redline, Susan and Reed, Robert M and Laurie, Cathy C and Daviglus, Martha L and Preudhomme, Liana K and Burkart, Kristin M and Kaplan, Robert C and Wain, Louise V and Tobin, Martin D and London, Stephanie J and Lappalainen, Tuuli and Oelsner, Elizabeth C and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Silverman, Edwin K and Barr, R Graham and Cho, Michael H and Manichaikul, Ani} } @article {8779, title = {Whole-genome sequencing association analysis of quantitative red blood cell phenotypes: The NHLBI TOPMed program.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {108}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 05 06}, pages = {874-893}, abstract = {

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS), a powerful tool for detecting novel coding and non-coding disease-causing variants, has largely been applied to clinical diagnosis of inherited disorders. Here we leveraged WGS data in up to 62,653 ethnically diverse participants from the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program and assessed statistical association of variants with seven red blood cell (RBC) quantitative traits. We discovered 14 single variant-RBC trait associations at 12 genomic loci, which have not been reported previously. Several of the RBC trait-variant associations (RPN1, ELL2, MIDN, HBB, HBA1, PIEZO1, and G6PD) were replicated in independent GWAS datasets imputed to the TOPMed reference panel. Most of these discovered variants are rare/low frequency, and several are observed disproportionately among non-European Ancestry (African, Hispanic/Latino, or East Asian) populations. We identified a 3~bp indel p.Lys2169del (g.88717175_88717177TCT[4]) (common only in the Ashkenazi Jewish population) of PIEZO1, a gene responsible for the Mendelian red cell disorder hereditary xerocytosis (MIM: 194380), associated with higher mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). In stepwise conditional analysis and in gene-based rare variant aggregated association analysis, we identified several of the variants in HBB, HBA1, TMPRSS6, and G6PD that represent the carrier state for known coding, promoter, or splice site loss-of-function variants that cause inherited RBC disorders. Finally, we applied base and nuclease editing to demonstrate that the sentinel variant rs112097551 (nearest gene RPN1) acts through a cis-regulatory element that exerts long-range control of the gene RUVBL1 which is essential for hematopoiesis. Together, these results demonstrate the utility of WGS in ethnically diverse population-based samples and gene editing for expanding knowledge of the genetic architecture of quantitative hematologic traits and suggest a continuum between complex trait and Mendelian red cell disorders.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 16, Datasets as Topic, Erythrocytes, Female, Gene Editing, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, HEK293 Cells, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.), Phenotype, Quality Control, Reproducibility of Results, United States}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.04.003}, author = {Hu, Yao and Stilp, Adrienne M and McHugh, Caitlin P and Rao, Shuquan and Jain, Deepti and Zheng, Xiuwen and Lane, John and M{\'e}ric de Bellefon, S{\'e}bastian and Raffield, Laura M and Chen, Ming-Huei and Yanek, Lisa R and Wheeler, Marsha and Yao, Yao and Ren, Chunyan and Broome, Jai and Moon, Jee-Young and de Vries, Paul S and Hobbs, Brian D and Sun, Quan and Surendran, Praveen and Brody, Jennifer A and Blackwell, Thomas W and Choquet, Helene and Ryan, Kathleen and Duggirala, Ravindranath and Heard-Costa, Nancy and Wang, Zhe and Chami, Nathalie and Preuss, Michael H and Min, Nancy and Ekunwe, Lynette and Lange, Leslie A and Cushman, Mary and Faraday, Nauder and Curran, Joanne E and Almasy, Laura and Kundu, Kousik and Smith, Albert V and Gabriel, Stacey and Rotter, Jerome I and Fornage, Myriam and Lloyd-Jones, Donald M and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Smith, Nicholas L and North, Kari E and Boerwinkle, Eric and Becker, Lewis C and Lewis, Joshua P and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Hou, Lifang and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Morrison, Alanna C and Beaty, Terri H and Kaplan, Robert and Correa, Adolfo and Blangero, John and Jorgenson, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Kooperberg, Charles and Walton, Russell T and Kleinstiver, Benjamin P and Tang, Hua and Loos, Ruth J F and Soranzo, Nicole and Butterworth, Adam S and Nickerson, Debbie and Rich, Stephen S and Mitchell, Braxton D and Johnson, Andrew D and Auer, Paul L and Li, Yun and Mathias, Rasika A and Lettre, Guillaume and Pankratz, Nathan and Laurie, Cathy C and Laurie, Cecelia A and Bauer, Daniel E and Conomos, Matthew P and Reiner, Alexander P} } @article {9245, title = {Circulating Soluble CD163, Associations With Cardiovascular Outcomes and Mortality, and Identification of Genetic Variants in Older Individuals: The Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {J Am Heart Assoc}, volume = {11}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Nov}, pages = {e024374}, abstract = {

Background Monocytes/macrophages participate in cardiovascular disease. CD163 (cluster of differentiation 163) is a monocyte/macrophage receptor, and the shed sCD163 (soluble CD163) reflects monocyte/macrophage activation. We examined the association of sCD163 with incident cardiovascular disease events and performed a genome-wide association study to identify sCD163-associated variants. Methods and Results We measured plasma sCD163 in 5214 adults (aged >=65 years, 58.7\% women, 16.2\% Black) of the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study). We used Cox regression models (associations of sCD163 with incident events and mortality); median follow-up was 26 years. Genome-wide association study analyses were stratified on race. Adjusted for age, sex, and race and ethnicity, sCD163 levels were associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.08 [95\% CI, 1.04-1.12] per SD increase), cardiovascular disease mortality (HR, 1.15 [95\% CI, 1.09-1.21]), incident coronary heart disease (HR, 1.10 [95\% CI, 1.04-1.16]), and incident heart failure (HR, 1.18 [95\% CI, 1.12-1.25]). When further adjusted (eg, cardiovascular disease risk factors), only incident coronary heart disease lost significance. In European American individuals, genome-wide association studies identified 38 variants on chromosome 2 near (top result rs62165726, =3.3{\texttimes}10),19 variants near chromosome 17 gene (rs55714927, =1.5{\texttimes}10), and 18 variants near chromosome 11 gene . These regions replicated in the European ancestry ADDITION-PRO cohort, a longitudinal cohort study nested in the Danish arm of the Anglo-Danish-Dutch~study~of~Intensive~Treatment~Intensive Treatment In peOple with screeNdetcted Diabetes in Primary Care. In Black individuals, we identified 9 variants on chromosome 6 (rs3129781 =7.1{\texttimes}10) in the region, and 3 variants (rs115391969 =4.3{\texttimes}10) near the chromosome 16 gene Conclusions Monocyte function, as measured by sCD163, may be predictive of overall and cardiovascular-specific mortality and incident heart failure.

}, keywords = {Aged, Antigens, CD, Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic, Asialoglycoprotein Receptor, Biomarkers, Cardiovascular Diseases, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Failure, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male}, issn = {2047-9980}, doi = {10.1161/JAHA.121.024374}, author = {Durda, Peter and Raffield, Laura M and Lange, Ethan M and Olson, Nels C and Jenny, Nancy Swords and Cushman, Mary and Deichgraeber, Pia and Grarup, Niels and Jonsson, Anna and Hansen, Torben and Mychaleckyj, Josyf C and Psaty, Bruce M and Reiner, Alex P and Tracy, Russell P and Lange, Leslie A} }