@article {1092, title = {Genomewide association studies of stroke.}, journal = {N Engl J Med}, volume = {360}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Apr 23}, pages = {1718-28}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The genes underlying the risk of stroke in the general population remain undetermined.

METHODS: We carried out an analysis of genomewide association data generated from four large cohorts composing the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology consortium, including 19,602 white persons (mean [+/-SD] age, 63+/-8 years) in whom 1544 incident strokes (1164 ischemic strokes) developed over an average follow-up of 11 years. We tested the markers most strongly associated with stroke in a replication cohort of 2430 black persons with 215 incident strokes (191 ischemic strokes), another cohort of 574 black persons with 85 incident strokes (68 ischemic strokes), and 652 Dutch persons with ischemic stroke and 3613 unaffected persons.

RESULTS: Two intergenic single-nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 12p13 and within 11 kb of the gene NINJ2 were associated with stroke (P<5x10(-8)). NINJ2 encodes an adhesion molecule expressed in glia and shows increased expression after nerve injury. Direct genotyping showed that rs12425791 was associated with an increased risk of total (i.e., all types) and ischemic stroke, with hazard ratios of 1.30 (95\% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 1.42) and 1.33 (95\% CI, 1.21 to 1.47), respectively, yielding population attributable risks of 11\% and 12\% in the discovery cohorts. Corresponding hazard ratios were 1.35 (95\% CI, 1.01 to 1.79; P=0.04) and 1.42 (95\% CI, 1.06 to 1.91; P=0.02) in the large cohort of black persons and 1.17 (95\% CI, 1.01 to 1.37; P=0.03) and 1.19 (95\% CI, 1.01 to 1.41; P=0.04) in the Dutch sample; the results of an underpowered analysis of the smaller black cohort were nonsignificant.

CONCLUSIONS: A genetic locus on chromosome 12p13 is associated with an increased risk of stroke.

}, keywords = {African Continental Ancestry Group, Aged, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Factors, Stroke}, issn = {1533-4406}, doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa0900094}, author = {Ikram, M Arfan and Seshadri, Sudha and Bis, Joshua C and Fornage, Myriam and DeStefano, Anita L and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Debette, Stephanie and Lumley, Thomas and Folsom, Aaron R and van den Herik, Evita G and Bos, Michiel J and Beiser, Alexa and Cushman, Mary and Launer, Lenore J and Shahar, Eyal and Struchalin, Maksim and Du, Yangchun and Glazer, Nicole L and Rosamond, Wayne D and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Kelly-Hayes, Margaret and Lopez, Oscar L and Coresh, Josef and Hofman, Albert and DeCarli, Charles and Heckbert, Susan R and Koudstaal, Peter J and Yang, Qiong and Smith, Nicholas L and Kase, Carlos S and Rice, Kenneth and Haritunians, Talin and Roks, Gerwin and de Kort, Paul L M and Taylor, Kent D and de Lau, Lonneke M and Oostra, Ben A and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Rotter, Jerome I and Boerwinkle, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Mosley, Thomas H and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Breteler, Monique M B and Longstreth, W T and Wolf, Philip A} } @article {1156, title = {Genome-wide association studies of MRI-defined brain infarcts: meta-analysis from the CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {Stroke}, volume = {41}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Feb}, pages = {210-7}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous studies examining genetic associations with MRI-defined brain infarct have yielded inconsistent findings. We investigated genetic variation underlying covert MRI infarct in persons without histories of transient ischemic attack or stroke. We performed meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of white participants in 6 studies comprising the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.

METHODS: Using 2.2 million genotyped and imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms, each study performed cross-sectional genome-wide association analysis of MRI infarct using age- and sex-adjusted logistic regression models. Study-specific findings were combined in an inverse-variance-weighted meta-analysis, including 9401 participants with mean age 69.7 (19.4\% of whom had >or=1 MRI infarct).

RESULTS: The most significant association was found with rs2208454 (minor allele frequency, 20\%), located in intron 3 of MACRO domain containing 2 gene and in the downstream region of fibronectin leucine-rich transmembrane protein 3 gene. Each copy of the minor allele was associated with lower risk of MRI infarcts (odds ratio, 0.76; 95\% confidence interval, 0.68-0.84; P=4.64x10(-7)). Highly suggestive associations (P<1.0x10(-5)) were also found for 22 other single nucleotide polymorphisms in linkage disequilibrium (r(2)>0.64) with rs2208454. The association with rs2208454 did not replicate in independent samples of 1822 white and 644 black participants, although 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms within 200 kb from rs2208454 were associated with MRI infarcts in the black population sample.

CONCLUSIONS: This first community-based, genome-wide association study on covert MRI infarcts uncovered novel associations. Although replication of the association with top single nucleotide polymorphisms failed, possibly because of insufficient power, results in the black population sample are encouraging, and further efforts at replication are needed.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Brain, Brain Infarction, Cohort Studies, DNA Mutational Analysis, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Testing, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Linkage Disequilibrium, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Prospective Studies}, issn = {1524-4628}, doi = {10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.569194}, author = {Debette, Stephanie and Bis, Joshua C and Fornage, Myriam and Schmidt, Helena and Ikram, M Arfan and Sigurdsson, Sigurdur and Heiss, Gerardo and Struchalin, Maksim and Smith, Albert V and van der Lugt, Aad and DeCarli, Charles and Lumley, Thomas and Knopman, David S and Enzinger, Christian and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Koudstaal, Peter J and DeStefano, Anita L and Psaty, Bruce M and Dufouil, Carole and Catellier, Diane J and Fazekas, Franz and Aspelund, Thor and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Beiser, Alexa and Rotter, Jerome I and Tzourio, Christophe and Shibata, Dean K and Tscherner, Maria and Harris, Tamara B and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Atwood, Larry D and Rice, Kenneth and Gottesman, Rebecca F and van Buchem, Mark A and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Kelly-Hayes, Margaret and Cushman, Mary and Zhu, Yicheng and Boerwinkle, Eric and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Hofman, Albert and Romero, Jose R and Lopez, Oscar and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Au, Rhoda and Heckbert, Susan R and Wolf, Philip A and Mosley, Thomas H and Seshadri, Sudha and Breteler, Monique M B and Schmidt, Reinhold and Launer, Lenore J and Longstreth, W T} } @article {1298, title = {Genome-wide association studies of cerebral white matter lesion burden: the CHARGE consortium.}, journal = {Ann Neurol}, volume = {69}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jun}, pages = {928-39}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) detectable by magnetic resonance imaging are part of the spectrum of vascular injury associated with aging of the brain and are thought to reflect ischemic damage to the small deep cerebral vessels. WMHs are associated with an increased risk of cognitive and motor dysfunction, dementia, depression, and stroke. Despite a significant heritability, few genetic loci influencing WMH burden have been identified.

METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for WMH burden in 9,361 stroke-free individuals of European descent from 7 community-based cohorts. Significant findings were tested for replication in 3,024 individuals from 2 additional cohorts.

RESULTS: We identified 6 novel risk-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1 locus on chromosome 17q25 encompassing 6 known genes including WBP2, TRIM65, TRIM47, MRPL38, FBF1, and ACOX1. The most significant association was for rs3744028 (p(discovery) = 4.0 {\texttimes} 10(-9) ; p(replication) = 1.3 {\texttimes} 10(-7) ; p(combined) = 4.0 {\texttimes} 10(-15) ). Other SNPs in this region also reaching genome-wide significance were rs9894383 (p = 5.3 {\texttimes} 10(-9) ), rs11869977 (p = 5.7 {\texttimes} 10(-9) ), rs936393 (p = 6.8 {\texttimes} 10(-9) ), rs3744017 (p = 7.3 {\texttimes} 10(-9) ), and rs1055129 (p = 4.1 {\texttimes} 10(-8) ). Variant alleles at these loci conferred a small increase in WMH burden (4-8\% of the overall mean WMH burden in the sample).

INTERPRETATION: This large GWAS of WMH burden in community-based cohorts of individuals of European descent identifies a novel locus on chromosome 17. Further characterization of this locus may provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of cerebral WMH.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cerebral Cortex, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17, Cognition Disorders, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Leukoencephalopathies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Movement Disorders, Nerve Fibers, Myelinated, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Residence Characteristics, RNA, Messenger}, issn = {1531-8249}, doi = {10.1002/ana.22403}, author = {Fornage, Myriam and Debette, Stephanie and Bis, Joshua C and Schmidt, Helena and Ikram, M Arfan and Dufouil, Carole and Sigurdsson, Sigurdur and Lumley, Thomas and DeStefano, Anita L and Fazekas, Franz and Vrooman, Henri A and Shibata, Dean K and Maillard, Pauline and Zijdenbos, Alex and Smith, Albert V and Gudnason, Haukur and de Boer, Renske and Cushman, Mary and Mazoyer, Bernard and Heiss, Gerardo and Vernooij, Meike W and Enzinger, Christian and Glazer, Nicole L and Beiser, Alexa and Knopman, David S and Cavalieri, Margherita and Niessen, Wiro J and Harris, Tamara B and Petrovic, Katja and Lopez, Oscar L and Au, Rhoda and Lambert, Jean-Charles and Hofman, Albert and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Garcia, Melissa and Heckbert, Susan R and Atwood, Larry D and Catellier, Diane J and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Yang, Qiong and Smith, Nicholas L and Aspelund, Thor and Romero, Jose R and Rice, Kenneth and Taylor, Kent D and Nalls, Michael A and Rotter, Jerome I and Sharrett, Richey and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Amouyel, Philippe and Wolf, Philip A and Gudnason, Vilmundur and van der Lugt, Aad and Boerwinkle, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Seshadri, Sudha and Tzourio, Christophe and Breteler, Monique M B and Mosley, Thomas H and Schmidt, Reinhold and Longstreth, W T and DeCarli, Charles and Launer, Lenore J} } @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} } @article {6684, title = {Genome-wide studies of verbal declarative memory in nondemented older people: the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology consortium.}, journal = {Biol Psychiatry}, volume = {77}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Apr 15}, pages = {749-63}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Memory performance in older persons can reflect genetic influences on cognitive function and dementing processes. We aimed to identify genetic contributions to verbal declarative memory in a community setting.

METHODS: We conducted genome-wide association studies for paragraph or word list delayed recall in 19 cohorts from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology consortium, comprising 29,076 dementia- and stroke-free individuals of European descent, aged >=45 years. Replication of suggestive associations (p < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) was sought in 10,617 participants of European descent, 3811 African-Americans, and 1561 young adults.

RESULTS: rs4420638, near APOE, was associated with poorer delayed recall performance in discovery (p = 5.57 {\texttimes} 10(-10)) and replication cohorts (p = 5.65 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). This association was stronger for paragraph than word list delayed recall and in the oldest persons. Two associations with specific tests, in subsets of the total sample, reached genome-wide significance in combined analyses of discovery and replication (rs11074779 [HS3ST4], p = 3.11 {\texttimes} 10(-8), and rs6813517 [SPOCK3], p = 2.58 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) near genes involved in immune response. A genetic score combining 58 independent suggestive memory risk variants was associated with increasing Alzheimer disease pathology in 725 autopsy samples. Association of memory risk loci with gene expression in 138 human hippocampus samples showed cis-associations with WDR48 and CLDN5, both related to ubiquitin metabolism.

CONCLUSIONS: This largest study to date exploring the genetics of memory function in ~40,000 older individuals revealed genome-wide associations and suggested an involvement of immune and ubiquitin pathways.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Apolipoproteins E, Claudin-5, Cohort Studies, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Male, Memory Disorders, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proteins, Proteoglycans, Regression Analysis, Sulfotransferases, Verbal Learning}, issn = {1873-2402}, doi = {10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.08.027}, author = {Debette, Stephanie and Ibrahim Verbaas, Carla A and Bressler, Jan and Schuur, Maaike and Smith, Albert and Bis, Joshua C and Davies, Gail and Wolf, Christiane and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Chibnik, Lori B and Yang, Qiong and DeStefano, Anita L and de Quervain, Dominique J F and Srikanth, Velandai and Lahti, Jari and Grabe, Hans J and Smith, Jennifer A and Priebe, Lutz and Yu, Lei and Karbalai, Nazanin and Hayward, Caroline and Wilson, James F and Campbell, Harry and Petrovic, Katja and Fornage, Myriam and Chauhan, Ganesh and Yeo, Robin and Boxall, Ruth and Becker, James and Stegle, Oliver and Mather, Karen A and Chouraki, Vincent and Sun, Qi and Rose, Lynda M and Resnick, Susan and Oldmeadow, Christopher and Kirin, Mirna and Wright, Alan F and Jonsdottir, Maria K and Au, Rhoda and Becker, Albert and Amin, Najaf and Nalls, Mike A and Turner, Stephen T and Kardia, Sharon L R and Oostra, Ben and Windham, Gwen and Coker, Laura H and Zhao, Wei and Knopman, David S and Heiss, Gerardo and Griswold, Michael E and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Vitart, Veronique and Hastie, Nicholas D and Zgaga, Lina and Rudan, Igor and Polasek, Ozren and Holliday, Elizabeth G and Schofield, Peter and Choi, Seung Hoan and Tanaka, Toshiko and An, Yang and Perry, Rodney T and Kennedy, Richard E and Sale, Mich{\`e}le M and Wang, Jing and Wadley, Virginia G and Liewald, David C and Ridker, Paul M and Gow, Alan J and Pattie, Alison and Starr, John M and Porteous, David and Liu, Xuan and Thomson, Russell and Armstrong, Nicola J and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Assareh, Arezoo A and Kochan, Nicole A and Widen, Elisabeth and Palotie, Aarno and Hsieh, Yi-Chen and Eriksson, Johan G and Vogler, Christian and van Swieten, John C and Shulman, Joshua M and Beiser, Alexa and Rotter, Jerome and Schmidt, Carsten O and Hoffmann, Wolfgang and N{\"o}then, Markus M and Ferrucci, Luigi and Attia, John and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Amouyel, Philippe and Dartigues, Jean-Fran{\c c}ois and Amieva, H{\'e}l{\`e}ne and R{\"a}ikk{\"o}nen, Katri and Garcia, Melissa and Wolf, Philip A and Hofman, Albert and Longstreth, W T and Psaty, Bruce M and Boerwinkle, Eric and DeJager, Philip L and Sachdev, Perminder S and Schmidt, Reinhold and Breteler, Monique M B and Teumer, Alexander and Lopez, Oscar L and Cichon, Sven and Chasman, Daniel I and Grodstein, Francine and M{\"u}ller-Myhsok, Bertram and Tzourio, Christophe and Papassotiropoulos, Andreas and Bennett, David A and Ikram, M Arfan and Deary, Ian J and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Launer, Lenore and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Seshadri, Sudha and Mosley, Thomas H} } @article {6861, title = {White Matter Lesion Progression: Genome-Wide Search for Genetic Influences.}, journal = {Stroke}, volume = {46}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Nov}, pages = {3048-57}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: White matter lesion (WML) progression on magnetic resonance imaging is related to cognitive decline and stroke, but its determinants besides baseline WML burden are largely unknown. Here, we estimated heritability of WML progression, and sought common genetic variants associated with WML progression in elderly participants from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.

METHODS: Heritability of WML progression was calculated in the Framingham Heart Study. The genome-wide association study included 7773 elderly participants from 10 cohorts. To assess the relative contribution of genetic factors to progression of WML, we compared in 7 cohorts risk models including demographics, vascular risk factors plus single-nucleotide polymorphisms that have been shown to be associated cross-sectionally with WML in the current and previous association studies.

RESULTS: A total of 1085 subjects showed WML progression. The heritability estimate for WML progression was low at 6.5\%, and no single-nucleotide polymorphisms achieved genome-wide significance (P<5{\texttimes}10(-8)). Four loci were suggestive (P<1{\texttimes}10(-5)) of an association with WML progression: 10q24.32 (rs10883817, P=1.46{\texttimes}10(-6)); 12q13.13 (rs4761974, P=8.71{\texttimes}10(-7)); 20p12.1 (rs6135309, P=3.69{\texttimes}10(-6)); and 4p15.31 (rs7664442, P=2.26{\texttimes}10(-6)). Variants that have been previously related to WML explained only 0.8\% to 11.7\% more of the variance in WML progression than age, vascular risk factors, and baseline WML burden.

CONCLUSIONS: Common genetic factors contribute little to the progression of age-related WML in middle-aged and older adults. Future research on determinants of WML progression should focus more on environmental, lifestyle, or host-related biological factors.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Cohort Studies, Disease Progression, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Leukoencephalopathies, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, White Matter}, issn = {1524-4628}, doi = {10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.009252}, author = {Hofer, Edith and Cavalieri, Margherita and Bis, Joshua C and DeCarli, Charles and Fornage, Myriam and Sigurdsson, Sigurdur and Srikanth, Velandai and Trompet, Stella and Verhaaren, Benjamin F J and Wolf, Christiane and Yang, Qiong and Adams, Hieab H H and Amouyel, Philippe and Beiser, Alexa and Buckley, Brendan M and Callisaya, Michele and Chauhan, Ganesh and de Craen, Anton J M and Dufouil, Carole and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Ford, Ian and Freudenberger, Paul and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Heiss, Gerardo and Hofman, Albert and Lumley, Thomas and Martinez, Oliver and Mazoyer, Bernard and Moran, Chris and Niessen, Wiro J and Phan, Thanh and Psaty, Bruce M and Satizabal, Claudia L and Sattar, Naveed and Schilling, Sabrina and Shibata, Dean K and Slagboom, P Eline and Smith, Albert and Stott, David J and Taylor, Kent D and Thomson, Russell and T{\"o}glhofer, Anna M and Tzourio, Christophe and van Buchem, Mark and Wang, Jing and Westendorp, Rudi G J and Windham, B Gwen and Vernooij, Meike W and Zijdenbos, Alex and Beare, Richard and Debette, Stephanie and Ikram, M Arfan and Jukema, J Wouter and Launer, Lenore J and Longstreth, W T and Mosley, Thomas H and Seshadri, Sudha and Schmidt, Helena and Schmidt, Reinhold} }