@article {1114, title = {Variants in ZFHX3 are associated with atrial fibrillation in individuals of European ancestry.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {41}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Aug}, pages = {879-81}, abstract = {

We conducted meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies for atrial fibrillation (AF) in participants from five community-based cohorts. Meta-analyses of 896 prevalent (15,768 referents) and 2,517 incident (21,337 referents) AF cases identified a new locus for AF (ZFHX3, rs2106261, risk ratio RR = 1.19; P = 2.3 x 10(-7)). We replicated this association in an independent cohort from the German AF Network (odds ratio = 1.44; P = 1.6 x 10(-11); combined RR = 1.25; combined P = 1.8 x 10(-15)).

}, keywords = {Atrial Fibrillation, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 16, European Continental Ancestry Group, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Homeodomain Proteins, Humans, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Mutation, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Reproducibility of Results}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.416}, author = {Benjamin, Emelia J and Rice, Kenneth M and Arking, Dan E and Pfeufer, Arne and van Noord, Charlotte and Smith, Albert V and Schnabel, Renate B and Bis, Joshua C and Boerwinkle, Eric and Sinner, Moritz F and Dehghan, Abbas and Lubitz, Steven A and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, Ralph B and Lumley, Thomas and Ehret, Georg B and Heeringa, Jan and Aspelund, Thor and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Larson, Martin G and Marciante, Kristin D and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Wang, Thomas J and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Levy, Daniel and Psaty, Bruce M and Li, Man and Chamberlain, Alanna M and Hofman, Albert and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Harris, Tamara B and Rotter, Jerome I and Kao, W H Linda and Agarwal, Sunil K and Stricker, Bruno H Ch and Wang, Ke and Launer, Lenore J and Smith, Nicholas L and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Wolf, Philip A and Sotoodehnia, Nona and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Meitinger, Thomas and Mueller, Martina and Perz, Siegfried and Steinbeck, Gerhard and Wichmann, H-Erich and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Heckbert, Susan R and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Alonso, Alvaro and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Ellinor, Patrick T and Witteman, Jacqueline C M} } @article {1244, title = {Common variants in 22 loci are associated with QRS duration and cardiac ventricular conduction.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {42}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Dec}, pages = {1068-76}, abstract = {

The QRS interval, from the beginning of the Q wave to the end of the S wave on an electrocardiogram, reflects ventricular depolarization and conduction time and is a risk factor for mortality, sudden death and heart failure. We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis in 40,407 individuals of European descent from 14 studies, with further genotyping in 7,170 additional Europeans, and we identified 22 loci associated with QRS duration (P < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). These loci map in or near genes in pathways with established roles in ventricular conduction such as sodium channels, transcription factors and calcium-handling proteins, but also point to previously unidentified biologic processes, such as kinase inhibitors and genes related to tumorigenesis. We demonstrate that SCN10A, a candidate gene at the most significantly associated locus in this study, is expressed in the mouse ventricular conduction system, and treatment with a selective SCN10A blocker prolongs QRS duration. These findings extend our current knowledge of ventricular depolarization and conduction.

}, keywords = {Animals, Animals, Newborn, Chromosomes, Human, Computational Biology, Electrocardiography, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Conduction System, Humans, Mice, Mice, Transgenic, Models, Animal, Myocytes, Cardiac, NAV1.8 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Sodium Channels}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.716}, author = {Sotoodehnia, Nona and Isaacs, Aaron and de Bakker, Paul I W and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Nolte, Ilja M and van der Harst, Pim and M{\"u}ller, Martina and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Alonso, Alvaro and Hicks, Andrew A and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Hayward, Caroline and Smith, Albert Vernon and Polasek, Ozren and Giovannone, Steven and Fu, Jingyuan and Magnani, Jared W and Marciante, Kristin D and Pfeufer, Arne and Gharib, Sina A and Teumer, Alexander and Li, Man and Bis, Joshua C and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Aspelund, Thor and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Johnson, Toby and Rice, Kenneth and Sie, Mark P S and Wang, Ying A and Klopp, Norman and Fuchsberger, Christian and Wild, Sarah H and Mateo Leach, Irene and Estrada, Karol and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Wright, Alan F and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Qu, Jiaxiang and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Sinner, Moritz F and Kors, Jan A and Petersmann, Astrid and Harris, Tamara B and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Munroe, Patricia B and Psaty, Bruce M and Oostra, Ben A and Cupples, L Adrienne and Perz, Siegfried and de Boer, Rudolf A and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Spector, Timothy D and Liu, Fang-Yu and Boerwinkle, Eric and Dominiczak, Anna F and Rotter, Jerome I and van Herpen, G{\'e} and Levy, Daniel and Wichmann, H-Erich and van Gilst, Wiek H and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Kroemer, Heyo K and Kao, W H Linda and Heckbert, Susan R and Meitinger, Thomas and Hofman, Albert and Campbell, Harry and Folsom, Aaron R and van Veldhuisen, Dirk J and Schwienbacher, Christine and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Volpato, Claudia Beu and Caulfield, Mark J and Connell, John M and Launer, Lenore and Lu, Xiaowen and Franke, Lude and Fehrmann, Rudolf S N and te Meerman, Gerard and Groen, Harry J M and Weersma, Rinse K and van den Berg, Leonard H and Wijmenga, Cisca and Ophoff, Roel A and Navis, Gerjan and Rudan, Igor and Snieder, Harold and Wilson, James F and Pramstaller, Peter P and Siscovick, David S and Wang, Thomas J and Gudnason, Vilmundur and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Felix, Stephan B and Fishman, Glenn I and Jamshidi, Yalda and Stricker, Bruno H Ch and Samani, Nilesh J and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Arking, Dan E} } @article {1170, title = {Common variants in KCNN3 are associated with lone atrial fibrillation.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {42}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Mar}, pages = {240-4}, abstract = {

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia. Previous studies have identified several genetic loci associated with typical AF. We sought to identify common genetic variants underlying lone AF. This condition affects a subset of individuals without overt heart disease and with an increased heritability of AF. We report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies conducted using 1,335 individuals with lone AF (cases) and 12,844 unaffected individuals (referents). Cases were obtained from the German AF Network, Heart and Vascular Health Study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Cleveland Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital. We identified an association on chromosome 1q21 to lone AF (rs13376333, adjusted odds ratio = 1.56; P = 6.3 x 10(-12)), and we replicated this association in two independent cohorts with lone AF (overall combined odds ratio = 1.52, 95\% CI 1.40-1.64; P = 1.83 x 10(-21)). rs13376333 is intronic to KCNN3, which encodes a potassium channel protein involved in atrial repolarization.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Atrial Fibrillation, Case-Control Studies, Cohort Studies, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Introns, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Small-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels, Young Adult}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.537}, author = {Ellinor, Patrick T and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Glazer, Nicole L and Pfeufer, Arne and Alonso, Alvaro and Chung, Mina K and Sinner, Moritz F and de Bakker, Paul I W and Mueller, Martina and Lubitz, Steven A and Fox, Ervin and Darbar, Dawood and Smith, Nicholas L and Smith, Jonathan D and Schnabel, Renate B and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Rice, Kenneth M and Van Wagoner, David R and Beckmann, Britt-M and van Noord, Charlotte and Wang, Ke and Ehret, Georg B and Rotter, Jerome I and Hazen, Stanley L and Steinbeck, Gerhard and Smith, Albert V and Launer, Lenore J and Harris, Tamara B and Makino, Seiko and Nelis, Mari and Milan, David J and Perz, Siegfried and Esko, T{\~o}nu and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Moebus, Susanne and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Li, Man and M{\"o}hlenkamp, Stefan and Wang, Thomas J and Kao, W H Linda and Vasan, Ramachandran S and N{\"o}then, Markus M and MacRae, Calum A and Stricker, Bruno H Ch and Hofman, Albert and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Levy, Daniel and Boerwinkle, Eric and Metspalu, Andres and Topol, Eric J and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Psaty, Bruce M and Roden, Dan M and Meitinger, Thomas and Wichmann, H-Erich and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Barnard, John and Arking, Dan E and Benjamin, Emelia J and Heckbert, Susan R and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan} } @article {1248, title = {European ancestry as a risk factor for atrial fibrillation in African Americans.}, journal = {Circulation}, volume = {122}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Nov 16}, pages = {2009-15}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Despite a higher burden of standard atrial fibrillation (AF) risk factors, African Americans have a lower risk of AF than whites. It is unknown whether the higher risk is due to genetic or environmental factors. Because African Americans have varying degrees of European ancestry, we sought to test the hypothesis that European ancestry is an independent risk factor for AF.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied whites (n=4543) and African Americans (n=822) in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) and whites (n=10 902) and African Americans (n=3517) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study (n=3517). Percent European ancestry in African Americans was estimated with 1747 ancestry informative markers from the Illumina custom ITMAT-Broad-CARe array. Among African Americans without baseline AF, 120 of 804 CHS participants and 181 of 3517 ARIC participants developed incident AF. A meta-analysis from the 2 studies revealed that every 10\% increase in European ancestry increased the risk of AF by 13\% (hazard ratio, 1.13; 95\% confidence interval, 1.03 to 1.23; P=0.007). After adjustment for potential confounders, European ancestry remained a predictor of incident AF in each cohort alone, with a combined estimated hazard ratio for each 10\% increase in European ancestry of 1.17 (95\% confidence interval, 1.07 to 1.29; P=0.001). A second analysis using 3192 ancestry informative markers from a genome-wide Affymetrix 6.0 array in ARIC African Americans yielded similar results.

CONCLUSIONS: European ancestry predicted risk of incident AF. Our study suggests that investigating genetic variants contributing to differential AF risk in individuals of African versus European ancestry will be informative.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Atrial Fibrillation, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors}, issn = {1524-4539}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.958306}, author = {Marcus, Gregory M and Alonso, Alvaro and Peralta, Carmen A and Lettre, Guillaume and Vittinghoff, Eric and Lubitz, Steven A and Fox, Ervin R and Levitzky, Yamini S and Mehra, Reena and Kerr, Kathleen F and Deo, Rajat and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Akylbekova, Meggie and Ellinor, Patrick T and Paltoo, Dina N and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Benjamin, Emelia J and Heckbert, Susan R} } @article {1217, title = {Genome-wide association analysis identifies multiple loci related to resting heart rate.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {19}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Oct 01}, pages = {3885-94}, abstract = {

Higher resting heart rate is associated with increased cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. Though heritable factors play a substantial role in population variation, little is known about specific genetic determinants. This knowledge can impact clinical care by identifying novel factors that influence pathologic heart rate states, modulate heart rate through cardiac structure and function or by improving our understanding of the physiology of heart rate regulation. To identify common genetic variants associated with heart rate, we performed a meta-analysis of 15 genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including 38,991 subjects of European ancestry, estimating the association between age-, sex- and body mass-adjusted RR interval (inverse heart rate) and approximately 2.5 million markers. Results with P < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-8) were considered genome-wide significant. We constructed regression models with multiple markers to assess whether results at less stringent thresholds were likely to be truly associated with RR interval. We identified six novel associations with resting heart rate at six loci: 6q22 near GJA1; 14q12 near MYH7; 12p12 near SOX5, c12orf67, BCAT1, LRMP and CASC1; 6q22 near SLC35F1, PLN and c6orf204; 7q22 near SLC12A9 and UfSp1; and 11q12 near FADS1. Associations at 6q22 400 kb away from GJA1, at 14q12 MYH6 and at 1q32 near CD34 identified in previously published GWAS were confirmed. In aggregate, these variants explain approximately 0.7\% of RR interval variance. A multivariant regression model including 20 variants with P < 10(-5) increased the explained variance to 1.6\%, suggesting that some loci falling short of genome-wide significance are likely truly associated. Future research is warranted to elucidate underlying mechanisms that may impact clinical care.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Base Pairing, Cohort Studies, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Rest}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddq303}, author = {Eijgelsheim, Mark and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Sotoodehnia, Nona and de Bakker, Paul I W and M{\"u}ller, Martina and Morrison, Alanna C and Smith, Albert V and Isaacs, Aaron and Sanna, Serena and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Navarro, Pau and Fuchsberger, Christian and Nolte, Ilja M and de Geus, Eco J C and Estrada, Karol and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Bis, Joshua C and R{\"u}ckert, Ina-Maria and Alonso, Alvaro and Launer, Lenore J and Hottenga, Jouke Jan and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Noseworthy, Peter A and Rice, Kenneth M and Perz, Siegfried and Arking, Dan E and Spector, Tim D and Kors, Jan A and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Tarasov, Kirill V and Homuth, Georg and Wild, Sarah H and Marroni, Fabio and Gieger, Christian and Licht, Carmilla M and Prineas, Ronald J and Hofman, Albert and Rotter, Jerome I and Hicks, Andrew A and Ernst, Florian and Najjar, Samer S and Wright, Alan F and Peters, Annette and Fox, Ervin R and Oostra, Ben A and Kroemer, Heyo K and Couper, David and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Campbell, Harry and Meitinger, Thomas and Uda, Manuela and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Psaty, Bruce M and Wichmann, H-Erich and Harris, Tamara B and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Siscovick, David S and Jamshidi, Yalda and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Folsom, Aaron R and Larson, Martin G and Wilson, James F and Penninx, Brenda W and Snieder, Harold and Pramstaller, Peter P and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Lakatta, Edward G and Felix, Stephan B and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Pfeufer, Arne and Heckbert, Susan R and Stricker, Bruno H Ch and Boerwinkle, Eric and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J} } @article {1159, title = {Genome-wide association study of PR interval.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {42}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Feb}, pages = {153-9}, abstract = {

The electrocardiographic PR interval (or PQ interval) reflects atrial and atrioventricular nodal conduction, disturbances of which increase risk of atrial fibrillation. We report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for PR interval from seven population-based European studies in the CHARGE Consortium: AGES, ARIC, CHS, FHS, KORA, Rotterdam Study, and SardiNIA (N = 28,517). We identified nine loci associated with PR interval at P < 5 x 10(-8). At the 3p22.2 locus, we observed two independent associations in voltage-gated sodium channel genes, SCN10A and SCN5A. Six of the loci were near cardiac developmental genes, including CAV1-CAV2, NKX2-5 (CSX1), SOX5, WNT11, MEIS1, and TBX5-TBX3, providing pathophysiologically interesting candidate genes. Five of the loci, SCN5A, SCN10A, NKX2-5, CAV1-CAV2, and SOX5, were also associated with atrial fibrillation (N = 5,741 cases, P < 0.0056). This suggests a role for common variation in ion channel and developmental genes in atrial and atrioventricular conduction as well as in susceptibility to atrial fibrillation.

}, keywords = {Aged, Atrial Fibrillation, Cohort Studies, Electrocardiography, Female, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Conduction System, Humans, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.517}, author = {Pfeufer, Arne and van Noord, Charlotte and Marciante, Kristin D and Arking, Dan E and Larson, Martin G and Smith, Albert Vernon and Tarasov, Kirill V and M{\"u}ller, Martina and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Sinner, Moritz F and Verwoert, Germaine C and Li, Man and Kao, W H Linda and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Coresh, Josef and Bis, Joshua C and Psaty, Bruce M and Rice, Kenneth and Rotter, Jerome I and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Hofman, Albert and Kors, Jan A and Stricker, Bruno H C and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Beckmann, Britt M and Sauter, Wiebke and Gieger, Christian and Lubitz, Steven A and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Wang, Thomas J and Magnani, Jared W and Schnabel, Renate B and Chung, Mina K and Barnard, John and Smith, Jonathan D and Van Wagoner, David R and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Aspelund, Thor and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Harris, Tamara B and Launer, Lenore J and Najjar, Samer S and Lakatta, Edward and Schlessinger, David and Uda, Manuela and Abecasis, Goncalo R and M{\"u}ller-Myhsok, Bertram and Ehret, Georg B and Boerwinkle, Eric and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Perz, Siegfried and Wichmann, H-Erich and Meitinger, Thomas and Levy, Daniel and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Ellinor, Patrick T and Sanna, Serena and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Alonso, Alvaro and Benjamin, Emelia J and Heckbert, Susan R} } @article {1226, title = {Independent susceptibility markers for atrial fibrillation on chromosome 4q25.}, journal = {Circulation}, volume = {122}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Sep 07}, pages = {976-84}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genetic variants on chromosome 4q25 are associated with atrial fibrillation (AF). We sought to determine whether there is more than 1 susceptibility signal at this locus.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-four haplotype-tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the 4q25 locus were genotyped in 790 case and 1177 control subjects from Massachusetts General Hospital and tested for association with AF. We replicated SNPs associated with AF after adjustment for the most significantly associated SNP in 5066 case and 30 661 referent subjects from the German Competence Network for Atrial Fibrillation, Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities Study, Cleveland Clinic Lone AF Study, Cardiovascular Health Study, and Rotterdam Study. All subjects were of European ancestry. A multimarker risk score composed of SNPs that tagged distinct AF susceptibility signals was constructed and tested for association with AF, and all results were subjected to meta-analysis. The previously reported SNP, rs2200733, was most significantly associated with AF (minor allele odds ratio 1.80, 95\% confidence interval 1.50 to 2.15, P=1.2 x 10(-20)) in the discovery sample. Adjustment for rs2200733 genotype revealed 2 additional susceptibility signals marked by rs17570669 and rs3853445. A graded risk of AF was observed with an increasing number of AF risk alleles at SNPs that tagged these 3 susceptibility signals.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified 2 novel AF susceptibility signals on chromosome 4q25. Consideration of multiple susceptibility signals at chromosome 4q25 identifies individuals with an increased risk of AF and may localize regulatory elements at the locus with biological relevance in the pathogenesis of AF.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Atrial Fibrillation, Chromosome Mapping, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Haplotypes, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1524-4539}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.886440}, author = {Lubitz, Steven A and Sinner, Moritz F and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Makino, Seiko and Pfeufer, Arne and Rahman, Rosanna and Veltman, Caroline E and Barnard, John and Bis, Joshua C and Danik, Stephan P and Sonni, Akshata and Shea, Marisa A and Del Monte, Federica and Perz, Siegfried and M{\"u}ller, Martina and Peters, Annette and Greenberg, Steven M and Furie, Karen L and van Noord, Charlotte and Boerwinkle, Eric and Stricker, Bruno H C and Witteman, Jacqueline and Smith, Jonathan D and Chung, Mina K and Heckbert, Susan R and Benjamin, Emelia J and Rosand, Jonathan and Arking, Dan E and Alonso, Alvaro and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Ellinor, Patrick T} } @article {1316, title = {Large-scale candidate gene analysis in whites and African Americans identifies IL6R polymorphism in relation to atrial fibrillation: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute{\textquoteright}s Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) project.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {4}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Oct}, pages = {557-64}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The genetic background of atrial fibrillation (AF) in whites and African Americans is largely unknown. Genes in cardiovascular pathways have not been systematically investigated.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined a panel of approximately 50,000 common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 2095 cardiovascular candidate genes and AF in 3 cohorts with participants of European (n=18,524; 2260 cases) or African American descent (n=3662; 263 cases) in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute{\textquoteright}s Candidate Gene Association Resource. Results in whites were followed up in the German Competence Network for AF (n=906, 468 cases). The top result was assessed in relation to incident ischemic stroke in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Stroke Consortium (n=19,602 whites, 1544 incident strokes). SNP rs4845625 in the IL6R gene was associated with AF (relative risk [RR] C allele, 0.90; 95\% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-0.95; P=0.0005) in whites but did not reach statistical significance in African Americans (RR, 0.86; 95\% CI, 0.72-1.03; P=0.09). The results were comparable in the German AF Network replication, (RR, 0.71; 95\% CI, 0.57-0.89; P=0.003). No association between rs4845625 and stroke was observed in whites. The known chromosome 4 locus near PITX2 in whites also was associated with AF in African Americans (rs4611994; hazard ratio, 1.40; 95\% CI, 1.16-1.69; P=0.0005).

CONCLUSIONS: In a community-based cohort meta-analysis, we identified genetic association in IL6R with AF in whites. Additionally, we demonstrated that the chromosome 4 locus known from recent genome-wide association studies in whites is associated with AF in African Americans.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Alleles, Atrial Fibrillation, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.), Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, Interleukin-6, Risk Factors, Stroke, United States}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.110.959197}, author = {Schnabel, Renate B and Kerr, Kathleen F and Lubitz, Steven A and Alkylbekova, Ermeg L and Marcus, Gregory M and Sinner, Moritz F and Magnani, Jared W and Wolf, Philip A and Deo, Rajat and Lloyd-Jones, Donald M and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Mehra, Reena and Levy, Daniel and Fox, Ervin R and Arking, Dan E and Mosley, Thomas H and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Young, Taylor R and Wichmann, H-Erich and Seshadri, Sudha and Farlow, Deborah N and Rotter, Jerome I and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Glazer, Nicole L and Wilson, James G and Breteler, Monique M B and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Ellinor, Patrick T and Alonso, Alvaro and Benjamin, Emelia J and Heckbert, Susan R} } @article {6179, title = {Impact of ancestry and common genetic variants on QT interval in African Americans.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec}, pages = {647-55}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Ethnic differences in cardiac arrhythmia incidence have been reported, with a particularly high incidence of sudden cardiac death and low incidence of atrial fibrillation in individuals of African ancestry. We tested the hypotheses that African ancestry and common genetic variants are associated with prolonged duration of cardiac repolarization, a central pathophysiological determinant of arrhythmia, as measured by the electrocardiographic QT interval.

METHODS AND RESULTS: First, individual estimates of African and European ancestry were inferred from genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data in 7 population-based cohorts of African Americans (n=12,097) and regressed on measured QT interval from ECGs. Second, imputation was performed for 2.8 million SNPs, and a genome-wide association study of QT interval was performed in 10 cohorts (n=13,105). There was no evidence of association between genetic ancestry and QT interval (P=0.94). Genome-wide significant associations (P<2.5 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) were identified with SNPs at 2 loci, upstream of the genes NOS1AP (rs12143842, P=2 {\texttimes} 10(-15)) and ATP1B1 (rs1320976, P=2 {\texttimes} 10(-10)). The most significant SNP in NOS1AP was the same as the strongest SNP previously associated with QT interval in individuals of European ancestry. Low probability values (P<10(-5)) were observed for SNPs at several other loci previously identified in genome-wide association studies in individuals of European ancestry, including KCNQ1, KCNH2, LITAF, and PLN.

CONCLUSIONS: We observed no difference in duration of cardiac repolarization with global genetic indices of African American ancestry. In addition, our genome-wide association study extends the association of polymorphisms at several loci associated with repolarization in individuals of European ancestry to include individuals of African ancestry.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Electrocardiography, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genealogy and Heraldry, Genetic Variation, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.112.962787}, author = {Smith, J Gustav and Avery, Christy L and Evans, Daniel S and Nalls, Michael A and Meng, Yan A and Smith, Erin N and Palmer, Cameron and Tanaka, Toshiko and Mehra, Reena and Butler, Anne M and Young, Taylor and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Kerr, Kathleen F and Berenson, Gerald S and Schnabel, Renate B and Li, Guo and Ellinor, Patrick T and Magnani, Jared W and Chen, Wei and Bis, Joshua C and Curb, J David and Hsueh, Wen-Chi and Rotter, Jerome I and Liu, Yongmei and Newman, Anne B and Limacher, Marian C and North, Kari E and Reiner, Alexander P and Quibrera, P Miguel and Schork, Nicholas J and Singleton, Andrew B and Psaty, Bruce M and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Solomon, Allen J and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Alonso, Alvaro and Wallace, Robert and Redline, Susan and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Post, Wendy S and Zonderman, Alan B and Taylor, Herman A and Murray, Sarah S and Ferrucci, Luigi and Arking, Dan E and Evans, Michele K and Fox, Ervin R and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Heckbert, Susan R and Whitsel, Eric A and Newton-Cheh, Christopher} } @article {1383, title = {Meta-analysis identifies six new susceptibility loci for atrial fibrillation.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {44}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Apr 29}, pages = {670-5}, abstract = {

Atrial fibrillation is a highly prevalent arrhythmia and a major risk factor for stroke, heart failure and death. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry, including 6,707 with and 52,426 without atrial fibrillation. Six new atrial fibrillation susceptibility loci were identified and replicated in an additional sample of individuals of European ancestry, including 5,381 subjects with and 10,030 subjects without atrial fibrillation (P < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). Four of the loci identified in Europeans were further replicated in silico in a GWAS of Japanese individuals, including 843 individuals with and 3,350 individuals without atrial fibrillation. The identified loci implicate candidate genes that encode transcription factors related to cardiopulmonary development, cardiac-expressed ion channels and cell signaling molecules.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, Atrial Fibrillation, Child, Child, Preschool, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors, Young Adult}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.2261}, author = {Ellinor, Patrick T and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Albert, Christine M and Glazer, Nicole L and Ritchie, Marylyn D and Smith, Albert V and Arking, Dan E and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Lubitz, Steven A and Bis, Joshua C and Chung, Mina K and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Ozaki, Kouichi and Roberts, Jason D and Smith, J Gustav and Pfeufer, Arne and Sinner, Moritz F and Lohman, Kurt and Ding, Jingzhong and Smith, Nicholas L and Smith, Jonathan D and Rienstra, Michiel and Rice, Kenneth M and Van Wagoner, David R and Magnani, Jared W and Wakili, Reza and Clauss, Sebastian and Rotter, Jerome I and Steinbeck, Gerhard and Launer, Lenore J and Davies, Robert W and Borkovich, Matthew and Harris, Tamara B and Lin, Honghuang and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Milan, David J and Hofman, Albert and Boerwinkle, Eric and Chen, Lin Y and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Voight, Benjamin F and Li, Guo and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Kubo, Michiaki and Tedrow, Usha B and Rose, Lynda M and Ridker, Paul M and Conen, David and Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko and Furukawa, Tetsushi and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Xu, Siyan and Kamatani, Naoyuki and Levy, Daniel and Nakamura, Yusuke and Parvez, Babar and Mahida, Saagar and Furie, Karen L and Rosand, Jonathan and Muhammad, Raafia and Psaty, Bruce M and Meitinger, Thomas and Perz, Siegfried and Wichmann, H-Erich and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Kao, W H Linda and Kathiresan, Sekar and Roden, Dan M and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Rivadeneira, Fernando and McKnight, Barbara and Sj{\"o}gren, Marketa and Newman, Anne B and Liu, Yongmei and Gollob, Michael H and Melander, Olle and Tanaka, Toshihiro and Stricker, Bruno H Ch and Felix, Stephan B and Alonso, Alvaro and Darbar, Dawood and Barnard, John and Chasman, Daniel I and Heckbert, Susan R and Benjamin, Emelia J and Gudnason, Vilmundur and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan} } @article {6084, title = {Novel loci associated with PR interval in a genome-wide association study of 10 African American cohorts.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec}, pages = {639-46}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The PR interval, as measured by the resting, standard 12-lead ECG, reflects the duration of atrial/atrioventricular nodal depolarization. Substantial evidence exists for a genetic contribution to PR, including genome-wide association studies that have identified common genetic variants at 9 loci influencing PR in populations of European and Asian descent. However, few studies have examined loci associated with PR in African Americans.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We present results from the largest genome-wide association study to date of PR in 13 415 adults of African descent from 10 cohorts. We tested for association between PR (ms) and ≈2.8 million genotyped and imputed single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Imputation was performed using HapMap 2 YRI and CEU panels. Study-specific results, adjusted for global ancestry and clinical correlates of PR, were meta-analyzed using the inverse variance method. Variation in genome-wide test statistic distributions was noted within studies (λ range: 0.9-1.1), although not after genomic control correction was applied to the overall meta-analysis (λ: 1.008). In addition to generalizing previously reported associations with MEIS1, SCN5A, ARHGAP24, CAV1, and TBX5 to African American populations at the genome-wide significance level (P<5.0 {\texttimes} 10(-8)), we also identified a novel locus: ITGA9, located in a region previously implicated in SCN5A expression. The 3p21 region harboring SCN5A also contained 2 additional independent secondary signals influencing PR (P<5.0 {\texttimes} 10(-8)).

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the ability to map novel loci in African Americans as well as the generalizability of loci associated with PR across populations of African, European, and Asian descent.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Cohort Studies, Electrocardiography, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.112.963991}, author = {Butler, Anne M and Yin, Xiaoyan and Evans, Daniel S and Nalls, Michael A and Smith, Erin N and Tanaka, Toshiko and Li, Guo and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Whitsel, Eric A and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and Benjamin, Emelia J and Berenson, Gerald S and Bis, Josh C and Chen, Wei and Deo, Rajat and Ellinor, Patrick T and Heckbert, Susan R and Heiss, Gerardo and Hsueh, Wen-Chi and Keating, Brendan J and Kerr, Kathleen F and Li, Yun and Limacher, Marian C and Liu, Yongmei and Lubitz, Steven A and Marciante, Kristin D and Mehra, Reena and Meng, Yan A and Newman, Anne B and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and North, Kari E and Palmer, Cameron D and Psaty, Bruce M and Quibrera, P Miguel and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alex P and Rotter, Jerome I and Schnabel, Renate B and Schork, Nicholas J and Singleton, Andrew B and Smith, J Gustav and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Zonderman, Alan B and Ferrucci, Luigi and Murray, Sarah S and Evans, Michele K and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Magnani, Jared W and Avery, Christy L} } @article {5850, title = {Atrial fibrillation and the risk of sudden cardiac death: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study and cardiovascular health study.}, journal = {JAMA Intern Med}, volume = {173}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jan 14}, pages = {29-35}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the general population. This association was examined in 2 population-based cohorts.

METHODS: In the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, we analyzed data from 15 439 participants (baseline age, 45-64 years; 55.2\% women; and 26.6\% black) from baseline (1987-1989) through December 31, 2001. In the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), we analyzed data from 5479 participants (baseline age, >=65 years; 58.2\% women; and 15.4\% black) from baseline (first cohort, 1989-1990; second cohort, 1992-1993) through December 31, 2006. The main outcome was physician-adjudicated SCD, defined as death from a sudden, pulseless condition presumed to be due to a ventricular tachyarrhythmia. The secondary outcome was non-SCD (NSCD), defined as coronary heart disease death not meeting SCD criteria. We used Cox proportional hazards models to assess the association between AF and SCD/NSCD, adjusting for baseline demographic and cardiovascular risk factors.

RESULTS: In the ARIC Study, 894 AF, 269 SCD, and 233 NSCD events occurred during follow-up (median, 13.1 years). The crude incidence rates of SCD were 2.89 per 1000 person-years (with AF) and 1.30 per 1000 person-years (without AF). The multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) (95\% CIs) of AF for SCD and NSCD were 3.26 (2.17-4.91) and 2.43 (1.60-3.71), respectively. In the CHS, 1458 AF, 292 SCD, and 581 NSCD events occurred during follow-up (median, 13.1 years). The crude incidence rates of SCD were 12.00 per 1000 person-years (with AF) and 3.82 per 1000 person-years (without AF). The multivariable HRs (95\% CIs) of AF for SCD and NSCD were 2.14 (1.60-2.87) and 3.10 (2.58-3.72), respectively. The meta-analyzed HRs (95\% CIs) of AF for SCD and NSCD were 2.47 (1.95-3.13) and 2.98 (2.52-3.53), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Incident AF is associated with an increased risk of SCD and NSCD in the general population. Additional research to identify predictors of SCD in patients with AF is warranted.

}, keywords = {Aged, Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiovascular Diseases, Death, Sudden, Cardiac, Demography, Ethnic Groups, Female, Humans, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, United States}, issn = {2168-6114}, doi = {10.1001/2013.jamainternmed.744}, author = {Chen, Lin Y and Sotoodehnia, Nona and B{\r u}zkov{\'a}, Petra and Lopez, Faye L and Yee, Laura M and Heckbert, Susan R and Prineas, Ronald and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Adabag, Selcuk and Konety, Suma and Folsom, Aaron R and Siscovick, David and Alonso, Alvaro} } @article {8015, title = {Identification of heart rate-associated loci and their effects on cardiac conduction and rhythm disorders.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {45}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jun}, pages = {621-31}, abstract = {

Elevated resting heart rate is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. In a 2-stage meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in up to 181,171 individuals, we identified 14 new loci associated with heart rate and confirmed associations with all 7 previously established loci. Experimental downregulation of gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster and Danio rerio identified 20 genes at 11 loci that are relevant for heart rate regulation and highlight a role for genes involved in signal transmission, embryonic cardiac development and the pathophysiology of dilated cardiomyopathy, congenital heart failure and/or sudden cardiac death. In addition, genetic susceptibility to increased heart rate is associated with altered cardiac conduction and reduced risk of sick sinus syndrome, and both heart rate-increasing and heart rate-decreasing variants associate with risk of atrial fibrillation. Our findings provide fresh insights into the mechanisms regulating heart rate and identify new therapeutic targets.

}, keywords = {Animals, Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Gene Frequency, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Conduction System, Heart Rate, Humans, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.2610}, author = {den Hoed, Marcel and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Esko, T{\~o}nu and Brundel, Bianca J J M and Peal, David S and Evans, David M and Nolte, Ilja M and Segr{\`e}, Ayellet V and Holm, Hilma and Handsaker, Robert E and Westra, Harm-Jan and Johnson, Toby and Isaacs, Aaron and Yang, Jian and Lundby, Alicia and Zhao, Jing Hua and Kim, Young Jin and Go, Min Jin and Almgren, Peter and Bochud, Murielle and Boucher, Gabrielle and Cornelis, Marilyn C and Gudbjartsson, Daniel and Hadley, David and van der Harst, Pim and Hayward, Caroline and den Heijer, Martin and Igl, Wilmar and Jackson, Anne U and Kutalik, Zolt{\'a}n and Luan, Jian{\textquoteright}an and Kemp, John P and Kristiansson, Kati and Ladenvall, Claes and Lorentzon, Mattias and Montasser, May E and Njajou, Omer T and O{\textquoteright}Reilly, Paul F and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and St Pourcain, Beate and Rankinen, Tuomo and Salo, Perttu and Tanaka, Toshiko and Timpson, Nicholas J and Vitart, Veronique and Waite, Lindsay and Wheeler, William and Zhang, Weihua and Draisma, Harmen H M and Feitosa, Mary F and Kerr, Kathleen F and Lind, Penelope A and Mihailov, Evelin and Onland-Moret, N Charlotte and Song, Ci and Weedon, Michael N and Xie, Weijia and Yengo, Loic and Absher, Devin and Albert, Christine M and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and de Bakker, Paul I W and Balkau, Beverley and Barlassina, Cristina and Benaglio, Paola and Bis, Joshua C and Bouatia-Naji, Nabila and Brage, S{\o}ren and Chanock, Stephen J and Chines, Peter S and Chung, Mina and Darbar, Dawood and Dina, Christian and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Elliott, Paul and Felix, Stephan B and Fischer, Krista and Fuchsberger, Christian and de Geus, Eco J C and Goyette, Philippe and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Harris, Tamara B and Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa and Havulinna, Aki S and Heckbert, Susan R and Hicks, Andrew A and Hofman, Albert and Holewijn, Suzanne and Hoogstra-Berends, Femke and Hottenga, Jouke-Jan and Jensen, Majken K and Johansson, Asa and Junttila, Juhani and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Kanon, Bart and Ketkar, Shamika and Khaw, Kay-Tee and Knowles, Joshua W and Kooner, Angrad S and Kors, Jan A and Kumari, Meena and Milani, Lili and Laiho, P{\"a}ivi and Lakatta, Edward G and Langenberg, Claudia and Leusink, Maarten and Liu, Yongmei and Luben, Robert N and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Lynch, Stacey N and Markus, Marcello R P and Marques-Vidal, Pedro and Mateo Leach, Irene and McArdle, Wendy L and McCarroll, Steven A and Medland, Sarah E and Miller, Kathryn A and Montgomery, Grant W and Morrison, Alanna C and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Navarro, Pau and Nelis, Mari and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Ong, Ken K and Newman, Anne B and Peters, Annette and Polasek, Ozren and Pouta, Anneli and Pramstaller, Peter P and Psaty, Bruce M and Rao, Dabeeru C and Ring, Susan M and Rossin, Elizabeth J and Rudan, Diana and Sanna, Serena and Scott, Robert A and Sehmi, Jaban S and Sharp, Stephen and Shin, Jordan T and Singleton, Andrew B and Smith, Albert V and Soranzo, Nicole and Spector, Tim D and Stewart, Chip and Stringham, Heather M and Tarasov, Kirill V and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Vandenput, Liesbeth and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Whitfield, John B and Wijmenga, Cisca and Wild, Sarah H and Willemsen, Gonneke and Wilson, James F and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Wong, Andrew and Wong, Quenna and Jamshidi, Yalda and Zitting, Paavo and Boer, Jolanda M A and Boomsma, Dorret I and Borecki, Ingrid B and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Ekelund, Ulf and Forouhi, Nita G and Froguel, Philippe and Hingorani, Aroon and Ingelsson, Erik and Kivimaki, Mika and Kronmal, Richard A and Kuh, Diana and Lind, Lars and Martin, Nicholas G and Oostra, Ben A and Pedersen, Nancy L and Quertermous, Thomas and Rotter, Jerome I and van der Schouw, Yvonne T and Verschuren, W M Monique and Walker, Mark and Albanes, Demetrius and Arnar, David O and Assimes, Themistocles L and Bandinelli, Stefania and Boehnke, Michael and de Boer, Rudolf A and Bouchard, Claude and Caulfield, W L Mark and Chambers, John C and Curhan, Gary and Cusi, Daniele and Eriksson, Johan and Ferrucci, Luigi and van Gilst, Wiek H and Glorioso, Nicola and de Graaf, Jacqueline and Groop, Leif and Gyllensten, Ulf and Hsueh, Wen-Chi and Hu, Frank B and Huikuri, Heikki V and Hunter, David J and Iribarren, Carlos and Isomaa, Bo and Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta and Jula, Antti and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Kiemeney, Lambertus A and van der Klauw, Melanie M and Kooner, Jaspal S and Kraft, Peter and Iacoviello, Licia and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Lokki, Marja-Liisa L and Mitchell, Braxton D and Navis, Gerjan and Nieminen, Markku S and Ohlsson, Claes and Poulter, Neil R and Qi, Lu and Raitakari, Olli T and Rimm, Eric B and Rioux, John D and Rizzi, Federica and Rudan, Igor and Salomaa, Veikko and Sever, Peter S and Shields, Denis C and Shuldiner, Alan R and Sinisalo, Juha and Stanton, Alice V and Stolk, Ronald P and Strachan, David P and Tardif, Jean-Claude and Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur and Tuomilehto, Jaako and van Veldhuisen, Dirk J and Virtamo, Jarmo and Viikari, Jorma and Vollenweider, Peter and Waeber, G{\'e}rard and Widen, Elisabeth and Cho, Yoon Shin and Olsen, Jesper V and Visscher, Peter M and Willer, Cristen and Franke, Lude and Erdmann, Jeanette and Thompson, John R and Pfeufer, Arne and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Ellinor, Patrick T and Stricker, Bruno H Ch and Metspalu, Andres and Perola, Markus and Beckmann, Jacques S and Smith, George Davey and Stefansson, Kari and Wareham, Nicholas J and Munroe, Patricia B and Sibon, Ody C M and Milan, David J and Snieder, Harold and Samani, Nilesh J and Loos, Ruth J F} } @article {5998, title = {The QT interval and risk of incident atrial fibrillation.}, journal = {Heart Rhythm}, volume = {10}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Oct}, pages = {1562-8}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Abnormal atrial repolarization is important in the development of atrial fibrillation (AF), but no direct measurement is available in clinical medicine.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the QT interval, a marker of ventricular repolarization, could be used to predict incident AF.

METHODS: We examined a prolonged QT interval corrected by using the Framingham formula (QT(Fram)) as a predictor of incident AF in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) and Health, Aging, and Body Composition (ABC) study were used for validation. Secondary predictors included QT duration as a continuous variable, a short QT interval, and QT intervals corrected by using other formulas.

RESULTS: Among 14,538 ARIC study participants, a prolonged QT(Fram) predicted a roughly 2-fold increased risk of AF (hazard ratio [HR] 2.05; 95\% confidence interval [CI] 1.42-2.96; P < .001). No substantive attenuation was observed after adjustment for age, race, sex, study center, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, coronary disease, and heart failure. The findings were validated in Cardiovascular Health Study and Health, Aging, and Body Composition study and were similar across various QT correction methods. Also in the ARIC study, each 10-ms increase in QT(Fram) was associated with an increased unadjusted (HR 1.14; 95\% CI 1.10-1.17; P < .001) and adjusted (HR 1.11; 95\% CI 1.07-1.14; P < .001) risk of AF. Findings regarding a short QT interval were inconsistent across cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS: A prolonged QT interval is associated with an increased risk of incident AF.

}, keywords = {Aged, Atrial Fibrillation, Cohort Studies, Electrocardiography, Female, Humans, Incidence, Long QT Syndrome, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors}, issn = {1556-3871}, doi = {10.1016/j.hrthm.2013.07.023}, author = {Mandyam, Mala C and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Alonso, Alvaro and Dewland, Thomas A and Heckbert, Susan R and Vittinghoff, Eric and Cummings, Steven R and Ellinor, Patrick T and Chaitman, Bernard R and Stocke, Karen and Applegate, William B and Arking, Dan E and Butler, Javed and Loehr, Laura R and Magnani, Jared W and Murphy, Rachel A and Satterfield, Suzanne and Newman, Anne B and Marcus, Gregory M} } @article {5878, title = {Simple risk model predicts incidence of atrial fibrillation in a racially and geographically diverse population: the CHARGE-AF consortium.}, journal = {J Am Heart Assoc}, volume = {2}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Mar 18}, pages = {e000102}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Tools for the prediction of atrial fibrillation (AF) may identify high-risk individuals more likely to benefit from preventive interventions and serve as a benchmark to test novel putative risk factors.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Individual-level data from 3 large cohorts in the United States (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities [ARIC] study, the Cardiovascular Health Study [CHS], and the Framingham Heart Study [FHS]), including 18 556 men and women aged 46 to 94 years (19\% African Americans, 81\% whites) were pooled to derive predictive models for AF using clinical variables. Validation of the derived models was performed in 7672 participants from the Age, Gene and Environment-Reykjavik study (AGES) and the Rotterdam Study (RS). The analysis included 1186 incident AF cases in the derivation cohorts and 585 in the validation cohorts. A simple 5-year predictive model including the variables age, race, height, weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, current smoking, use of antihypertensive medication, diabetes, and history of myocardial infarction and heart failure had good discrimination (C-statistic, 0.765; 95\% CI, 0.748 to 0.781). Addition of variables from the electrocardiogram did not improve the overall model discrimination (C-statistic, 0.767; 95\% CI, 0.750 to 0.783; categorical net reclassification improvement, -0.0032; 95\% CI, -0.0178 to 0.0113). In the validation cohorts, discrimination was acceptable (AGES C-statistic, 0.664; 95\% CI, 0.632 to 0.697 and RS C-statistic, 0.705; 95\% CI, 0.664 to 0.747) and calibration was adequate.

CONCLUSION: A risk model including variables readily available in primary care settings adequately predicted AF in diverse populations from the United States and Europe.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Atrial Fibrillation, Cohort Studies, Diabetes Mellitus, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Heart Failure, Humans, Hypertension, Iceland, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Myocardial Infarction, Netherlands, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Assessment, Smoking, United States}, issn = {2047-9980}, doi = {10.1161/JAHA.112.000102}, author = {Alonso, Alvaro and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Aspelund, Thor and Stepas, Katherine A and Pencina, Michael J and Moser, Carlee B and Sinner, Moritz F and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Fontes, Jo{\~a}o D and Janssens, A Cecile J W and Kronmal, Richard A and Magnani, Jared W and Witteman, Jacqueline C and Chamberlain, Alanna M and Lubitz, Steven A and Schnabel, Renate B and Agarwal, Sunil K and McManus, David D and Ellinor, Patrick T and Larson, Martin G and Burke, Gregory L and Launer, Lenore J and Hofman, Albert and Levy, Daniel and Gottdiener, John S and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Couper, David and Harris, Tamara B and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Stricker, Bruno H C and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Heckbert, Susan R and Benjamin, Emelia J} } @article {6543, title = {Association of sick sinus syndrome with incident cardiovascular disease and mortality: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study and Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {9}, year = {2014}, month = {2014}, pages = {e109662}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Sick sinus syndrome (SSS) is a common indication for pacemaker implantation. Limited information exists on the association of sick sinus syndrome (SSS) with mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general population.

METHODS: We studied 19,893 men and women age 45 and older in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), two community-based cohorts, who were without a pacemaker or atrial fibrillation (AF) at baseline. Incident SSS cases were validated by review of medical charts. Incident CVD and mortality were ascertained using standardized protocols. Multivariable Cox models were used to estimate the association of incident SSS with selected outcomes.

RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 17 years, 213 incident SSS events were identified and validated (incidence, 0.6 events per 1,000 person-years). After adjustment for confounders, SSS incidence was associated with increased mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.39, 95\% confidence interval [CI] 1.14-1.70), coronary heart disease (HR 1.72, 95\%CI 1.11-2.66), heart failure (HR 2.87, 95\%CI 2.17-3.80), stroke (HR 1.56, 95\%CI 0.99-2.46), AF (HR 5.75, 95\%CI 4.43-7.46), and pacemaker implantation (HR 53.7, 95\%CI 42.9-67.2). After additional adjustment for other incident CVD during follow-up, SSS was no longer associated with increased mortality, coronary heart disease, or stroke, but remained associated with higher risk of heart failure (HR 2.00, 95\%CI 1.51-2.66), AF (HR 4.25, 95\%CI 3.28-5.51), and pacemaker implantation (HR 25.2, 95\%CI 19.8-32.1).

CONCLUSION: Individuals who develop SSS are at increased risk of death and CVD. The mechanisms underlying these associations warrant further investigation.

}, keywords = {Age Distribution, Atherosclerosis, Cohort Studies, Continental Population Groups, Female, Humans, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Residence Characteristics, Risk, Sex Distribution, Sick Sinus Syndrome}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0109662}, author = {Alonso, Alvaro and Jensen, Paul N and Lopez, Faye L and Chen, Lin Y and Psaty, Bruce M and Folsom, Aaron R and Heckbert, Susan R} } @article {6601, title = {B-type natriuretic peptide and C-reactive protein in the prediction of atrial fibrillation risk: the CHARGE-AF Consortium of community-based cohort studies.}, journal = {Europace}, volume = {16}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Oct}, pages = {1426-33}, abstract = {

AIMS: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) predict atrial fibrillation (AF) risk. However, their risk stratification abilities in the broad community remain uncertain. We sought to improve risk stratification for AF using biomarker information.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We ascertained AF incidence in 18 556 Whites and African Americans from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC, n=10 675), Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS, n = 5043), and Framingham Heart Study (FHS, n = 2838), followed for 5 years (prediction horizon). We added BNP (ARIC/CHS: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide; FHS: BNP), CRP, or both to a previously reported AF risk score, and assessed model calibration and predictive ability [C-statistic, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification improvement (NRI)]. We replicated models in two independent European cohorts: Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility Reykjavik Study (AGES), n = 4467; Rotterdam Study (RS), n = 3203. B-type natriuretic peptide and CRP were significantly associated with AF incidence (n = 1186): hazard ratio per 1-SD ln-transformed biomarker 1.66 [95\% confidence interval (CI), 1.56-1.76], P < 0.0001 and 1.18 (95\% CI, 1.11-1.25), P < 0.0001, respectively. Model calibration was sufficient (BNP, χ(2) = 17.0; CRP, χ(2) = 10.5; BNP and CRP, χ(2) = 13.1). B-type natriuretic peptide improved the C-statistic from 0.765 to 0.790, yielded an IDI of 0.027 (95\% CI, 0.022-0.032), a relative IDI of 41.5\%, and a continuous NRI of 0.389 (95\% CI, 0.322-0.455). The predictive ability of CRP was limited (C-statistic increment 0.003). B-type natriuretic peptide consistently improved prediction in AGES and RS.

CONCLUSION: B-type natriuretic peptide, not CRP, substantially improved AF risk prediction beyond clinical factors in an independently replicated, heterogeneous population. B-type natriuretic peptide may serve as a benchmark to evaluate novel putative AF risk biomarkers.

}, keywords = {Aged, Atrial Fibrillation, Biomarkers, C-Reactive Protein, Europe, Female, Humans, Incidence, Male, Natriuretic Peptide, Brain, Peptide Fragments, Predictive Value of Tests, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, United States}, issn = {1532-2092}, doi = {10.1093/europace/euu175}, author = {Sinner, Moritz F and Stepas, Katherine A and Moser, Carlee B and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Aspelund, Thor and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Fontes, Jo{\~a}o D and Janssens, A Cecile J W and Kronmal, Richard A and Magnani, Jared W and Witteman, Jacqueline C and Chamberlain, Alanna M and Lubitz, Steven A and Schnabel, Renate B and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Wang, Thomas J and Agarwal, Sunil K and McManus, David D and Franco, Oscar H and Yin, Xiaoyan and Larson, Martin G and Burke, Gregory L and Launer, Lenore J and Hofman, Albert and Levy, Daniel and Gottdiener, John S and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Couper, David and Harris, Tamara B and Astor, Brad C and Ballantyne, Christie M and Hoogeveen, Ron C and Arai, Andrew E and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Ellinor, Patrick T and Stricker, Bruno H C and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Heckbert, Susan R and Pencina, Michael J and Benjamin, Emelia J and Alonso, Alvaro} } @article {6570, title = {A common SCN5A variant is associated with PR interval and atrial fibrillation among African Americans.}, journal = {J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol}, volume = {25}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Nov}, pages = {1150-7}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: We examined the association of rs7626962 (S1103Y) or rs7629265, a variant in high linkage disequilibrium with S1103Y (r(2) = 0.87 - 1), with sudden cardiac death (SCD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) among African Americans.

BACKGROUND: The SCN5A missense variant S1103Y has been associated with SCD among African Americans in small case-control studies, but larger population-based studies are needed to validate these findings. The association of this variant with AF has not been fully explored.

METHODS: Using genotyping data on over 7,000 African Americans from 5 cohorts (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities [ARIC], Cleveland Family Study [CFS], Jackson Heart Study [JHS], Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis [MESA], Cardiovascular Health Study [CHS]), we examined the association of rs7629265 with electrocardiographic PR, QRS, and QT intervals, and with incident AF and SCD. We examined association of S1103Y (rs7626962) with SCD using a population-based case-control study of SCD Cardiac Arrest Blood Study (CABS).

RESULTS: Meta-analyses across 5 cohorts demonstrated that rs7629265 was significantly associated with PR duration (β = -4.1 milliseconds; P = 2.2{\texttimes}10(-6) ), but not significantly associated with QRS or QT intervals. In meta-analyses of prospectively followed ARIC and CHS participants (n = 3,656), rs7629265 was associated with increased AF risk (n = 299 AF cases; HR = 1.74, P = 1.9 {\texttimes} 10(-4) ). By contrast, rs7629265 was not significantly associated with SCD risk in ARIC (n = 83 SCD cases; P = 0.30) or CHS (n = 54 SCD cases; P = 0.47). Similarly, S1103Y was not significantly associated with SCD risk in CABS (n = 225 SCD cases; P = 0.29).

CONCLUSION: The common SCN5A variant, rs7629265, is associated with increased AF risk and shorter PR interval among African Americans. In contrast to prior reports, we found no evidence of association of rs7629265 or rs7626962 (S1103Y) with SCD risk in the general population.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Atrial Fibrillation, Case-Control Studies, Cohort Studies, Death, Sudden, Cardiac, Female, Genetic Variation, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Single-Blind Method}, issn = {1540-8167}, doi = {10.1111/jce.12483}, author = {Ilkhanoff, Leonard and Arking, Dan E and Lemaitre, Rozenn N and Alonso, Alvaro and Chen, Lin Y and Durda, Peter and Hesselson, Stephanie E and Kerr, Kathleen F and Magnani, Jared W and Marcus, Gregory M and Schnabel, Renate B and Smith, J Gustav and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Reiner, Alexander P and Sotoodehnia, Nona} } @article {6399, title = {Fibroblast growth factor-23 and incident atrial fibrillation: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS).}, journal = {Circulation}, volume = {130}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jul 22}, pages = {298-307}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) is a hormone that promotes urinary phosphate excretion and regulates vitamin D metabolism. Circulating FGF-23 concentrations increase markedly in chronic kidney disease and are associated with increased risk of clinical cardiovascular events. FGF-23 may promote atrial fibrillation (AF) by inducing left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic and left atrial dysfunction.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We tested the associations of circulating FGF-23 concentration with incident AF among 6398 participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and 1350 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), all free of clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline. Over a median of 7.7 and 8.0 years of follow-up, we observed 291 and 229 incident AF events in MESA and CHS, respectively. In multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, each 2-fold-higher FGF-23 concentration was associated with a 41\% higher risk of incident AF in MESA (hazard ratio, 1.41; 95\% confidence interval, 1.13-1.76; P=0.003) and a 30\% higher risk of incident AF in CHS (hazard ratio, 1.30; 95\% confidence interval, 1.05-1.61; P=0.016) after adjustment for potential confounding characteristics, including kidney disease. Serum phosphate concentration was significantly associated with incident AF in MESA (hazard ratio, 1.15 per 0.5 mg/dL; 95\% confidence interval, 1.02-1.31; P=0.023) but not CHS. In MESA, an association of low estimated glomerular filtration rate with incident AF was partially attenuated by adjustment for FGF-23.

CONCLUSION: Higher circulating FGF-23 concentration is associated with incident AF and may, in part, explain the link between chronic kidney disease and AF.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Atrial Fibrillation, Comorbidity, Ethnic Groups, Female, Fibroblast Growth Factor 3, Follow-Up Studies, Glomerular Filtration Rate, Heart Failure, Humans, Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular, Male, Middle Aged, Phosphates, Proportional Hazards Models, Renal Insufficiency, Chronic, Risk Factors, United States, Ventricular Dysfunction, Left, Ventricular Remodeling, Vitamin D}, issn = {1524-4539}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.005499}, author = {Mathew, Jehu S and Sachs, Michael C and Katz, Ronit and Patton, Kristen K and Heckbert, Susan R and Hoofnagle, Andrew N and Alonso, Alvaro and Chonchol, Michel and Deo, Rajat and Ix, Joachim H and Siscovick, David S and Kestenbaum, Bryan and de Boer, Ian H} } @article {6544, title = {Genetic association study of QT interval highlights role for calcium signaling pathways in myocardial repolarization.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {46}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Aug}, pages = {826-36}, abstract = {

The QT interval, an electrocardiographic measure reflecting myocardial repolarization, is a heritable trait. QT prolongation is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and could indicate the presence of the potentially lethal mendelian long-QT syndrome (LQTS). Using a genome-wide association and replication study in up to 100,000 individuals, we identified 35 common variant loci associated with QT interval that collectively explain \~{}8-10\% of QT-interval variation and highlight the importance of calcium regulation in myocardial repolarization. Rare variant analysis of 6 new QT interval-associated loci in 298 unrelated probands with LQTS identified coding variants not found in controls but of uncertain causality and therefore requiring validation. Several newly identified loci encode proteins that physically interact with other recognized repolarization proteins. Our integration of common variant association, expression and orthogonal protein-protein interaction screens provides new insights into cardiac electrophysiology and identifies new candidate genes for ventricular arrhythmias, LQTS and SCD.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Calcium Signaling, Death, Sudden, Cardiac, Electrocardiography, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Heart Ventricles, Humans, Long QT Syndrome, Male, Middle Aged, Myocardium, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.3014}, author = {Arking, Dan E and Pulit, Sara L and Crotti, Lia and van der Harst, Pim and Munroe, Patricia B and Koopmann, Tamara T and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Rossin, Elizabeth J and Morley, Michael and Wang, Xinchen and Johnson, Andrew D and Lundby, Alicia and Gudbjartsson, Daniel F and Noseworthy, Peter A and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Bradford, Yuki and Tarasov, Kirill V and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Lahtinen, Annukka M and Nolte, Ilja M and Smith, Albert Vernon and Bis, Joshua C and Isaacs, Aaron and Newhouse, Stephen J and Evans, Daniel S and Post, Wendy S and Waggott, Daryl and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Hicks, Andrew A and Eisele, Lewin and Ellinghaus, David and Hayward, Caroline and Navarro, Pau and Ulivi, Sheila and Tanaka, Toshiko and Tester, David J and Chatel, St{\'e}phanie and Gustafsson, Stefan and Kumari, Meena and Morris, Richard W and Naluai, {\r A}sa T and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Kluttig, Alexander and Strohmer, Bernhard and Panayiotou, Andrie G and Torres, Maria and Knoflach, Michael and Hubacek, Jaroslav A and Slowikowski, Kamil and Raychaudhuri, Soumya and Kumar, Runjun D and Harris, Tamara B and Launer, Lenore J and Shuldiner, Alan R and Alonso, Alvaro and Bader, Joel S and Ehret, Georg and Huang, Hailiang and Kao, W H Linda and Strait, James B and Macfarlane, Peter W and Brown, Morris and Caulfield, Mark J and Samani, Nilesh J and Kronenberg, Florian and Willeit, Johann and Smith, J Gustav and Greiser, Karin H and Meyer Zu Schwabedissen, Henriette and Werdan, Karl and Carella, Massimo and Zelante, Leopoldo and Heckbert, Susan R and Psaty, Bruce M and Rotter, Jerome I and Kolcic, Ivana and Polasek, Ozren and Wright, Alan F and Griffin, Maura and Daly, Mark J and Arnar, David O and Holm, Hilma and Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur and Denny, Joshua C and Roden, Dan M and Zuvich, Rebecca L and Emilsson, Valur and Plump, Andrew S and Larson, Martin G and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Yin, Xiaoyan and Bobbo, Marco and D{\textquoteright}Adamo, Adamo P and Iorio, Annamaria and Sinagra, Gianfranco and Carracedo, Angel and Cummings, Steven R and Nalls, Michael A and Jula, Antti and Kontula, Kimmo K and Marjamaa, Annukka and Oikarinen, Lasse and Perola, Markus and Porthan, Kimmo and Erbel, Raimund and Hoffmann, Per and J{\"o}ckel, Karl-Heinz and K{\"a}lsch, Hagen and N{\"o}then, Markus M and den Hoed, Marcel and Loos, Ruth J F and Thelle, Dag S and Gieger, Christian and Meitinger, Thomas and Perz, Siegfried and Peters, Annette and Prucha, Hanna and Sinner, Moritz F and Waldenberger, Melanie and de Boer, Rudolf A and Franke, Lude and van der Vleuten, Pieter A and Beckmann, Britt Maria and Martens, Eimo and Bardai, Abdennasser and Hofman, Nynke and Wilde, Arthur A M and Behr, Elijah R and Dalageorgou, Chrysoula and Giudicessi, John R and Medeiros-Domingo, Argelia and Barc, Julien and Kyndt, Florence and Probst, Vincent and Ghidoni, Alice and Insolia, Roberto and Hamilton, Robert M and Scherer, Stephen W and Brandimarto, Jeffrey and Margulies, Kenneth and Moravec, Christine E and del Greco M, Fabiola and Fuchsberger, Christian and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Lee, Wai K and Watt, Graham C M and Campbell, Harry and Wild, Sarah H and El Mokhtari, Nour E and Frey, Norbert and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Mateo Leach, Irene and Navis, Gerjan and van den Berg, Maarten P and van Veldhuisen, Dirk J and Kellis, Manolis and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Franco, Oscar H and Hofman, Albert and Kors, Jan A and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Kedenko, Lyudmyla and Lamina, Claudia and Oostra, Ben A and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Lakatta, Edward G and Mulas, Antonella and Orr{\`u}, Marco and Schlessinger, David and Uda, Manuela and Markus, Marcello R P and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Snieder, Harold and Spector, Timothy D and Arnl{\"o}v, Johan and Lind, Lars and Sundstr{\"o}m, Johan and Syv{\"a}nen, Ann-Christine and Kivimaki, Mika and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Mononen, Nina and Raitakari, Olli T and Viikari, Jorma S and Adamkova, Vera and Kiechl, Stefan and Brion, Maria and Nicolaides, Andrew N and Paulweber, Bernhard and Haerting, Johannes and Dominiczak, Anna F and Nyberg, Fredrik and Whincup, Peter H and Hingorani, Aroon D and Schott, Jean-Jacques and Bezzina, Connie R and Ingelsson, Erik and Ferrucci, Luigi and Gasparini, Paolo and Wilson, James F and Rudan, Igor and Franke, Andre and M{\"u}hleisen, Thomas W and Pramstaller, Peter P and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho J and Paterson, Andrew D and Parsa, Afshin and Liu, Yongmei and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Siscovick, David S and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Jamshidi, Yalda and Salomaa, Veikko and Felix, Stephan B and Sanna, Serena and Ritchie, Marylyn D and Stricker, Bruno H and Stefansson, Kari and Boyer, Laurie A and Cappola, Thomas P and Olsen, Jesper V and Lage, Kasper and Schwartz, Peter J and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Ackerman, Michael J and Pfeufer, Arne and de Bakker, Paul I W and Newton-Cheh, Christopher} } @article {6187, title = {Height and risk of sudden cardiac death: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Cardiovascular Health studies.}, journal = {Ann Epidemiol}, volume = {24}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Mar}, pages = {174-179.e2}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an important cause of mortality in the adult population. Height has been associated with cardiac hypertrophy and an increased risk of arrhythmias but also with decreased risk of coronary heart disease, suggesting a complex association with SCD.

METHODS: We examined the association of adult height with the risk of physician-adjudicated SCD in two large population-based cohorts: the Cardiovascular Health Study and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.

RESULTS: Over an average follow-up time of 11.7 years in Cardiovascular Health Study, there were 199 (3.6\%) cases of SCD among 5556 participants. In Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, over 12.6 years, there were 227 (1.5\%) cases of SCD among 15,633 participants. In both cohorts, there was a trend toward decreased SCD with taller height. In fixed effects meta-analysis, the pooled hazard ratio per 10 cm of height was 0.84; 95\% confidence interval, 0.73-0.98; P~= .03. The association of increased height with lower risk of SCD was slightly attenuated after inclusion of risk factors associated with height, such as hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy. The association appeared stronger among men than women in both cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS: In two population-based prospective cohorts of different ages, greater height was associated with lower risk of SCD.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Atherosclerosis, Body Height, Coronary Disease, Death, Sudden, Cardiac, Female, Humans, Hypertension, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Population Surveillance, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors}, issn = {1873-2585}, doi = {10.1016/j.annepidem.2013.11.008}, author = {Rosenberg, Michael A and Lopez, Faye L and B{\r u}zkov{\'a}, Petra and Adabag, Selcuk and Chen, Lin Y and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Kronmal, Richard A and Siscovick, David S and Alonso, Alvaro and Buxton, Alfred and Folsom, Aaron R and Mukamal, Kenneth J} } @article {6572, title = {Incidence of and risk factors for sick sinus~syndrome in the general population.}, journal = {J Am Coll Cardiol}, volume = {64}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Aug 12}, pages = {531-8}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the incidence of and risk factors for sick sinus syndrome (SSS), a common indication for pacemaker implantation.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to describe the epidemiology of SSS.

METHODS: This analysis included 20,572 participants (mean baseline age 59 years, 43\% male) in the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities) study and the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study), who at baseline were free of prevalent atrial fibrillation and pacemaker therapy, had a heart rate of >= 50 beats/min unless using beta blockers, and were identified as of white or black race. Incident SSS cases were identified by hospital discharge International Classification of Disease-revision 9-Clinical Modification code 427.81 and validated by medical record review.

RESULTS: During an average 17 years of follow-up, 291 incident SSS cases were identified (unadjusted rate 0.8 per 1,000 person-years). Incidence increased with age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.73; 95\% confidence interval [CI]: 1.47 to 2.05 per 5-year increment), and blacks had a 41\% lower risk of SSS than whites (HR: 0.59; 95\% CI: 0.37 to 0.98). Incident SSS was associated with greater baseline body mass index, height, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and cystatin C, with longer QRS interval, with lower heart rate, and with prevalent hypertension, right bundle branch block, and cardiovascular disease. We project that the annual number of new SSS cases in the United States will increase from 78,000 in 2012 to 172,000 in 2060.

CONCLUSIONS: Blacks have a lower risk of SSS than whites, and several cardiovascular risk factors were associated with incident SSS. With the aging of the population, the number of Americans with SSS will increase dramatically over the next 50 years.

}, keywords = {African Continental Ancestry Group, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Population Surveillance, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Sick Sinus Syndrome}, issn = {1558-3597}, doi = {10.1016/j.jacc.2014.03.056}, author = {Jensen, Paul N and Gronroos, Noelle N and Chen, Lin Y and Folsom, Aaron R and deFilippi, Chris and Heckbert, Susan R and Alonso, Alvaro} } @article {6820, title = {Novel genetic markers associate with atrial fibrillation risk in Europeans and Japanese.}, journal = {J Am Coll Cardiol}, volume = {63}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Apr 1}, pages = {1200-10}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to identify nonredundant atrial fibrillation (AF) genetic susceptibility signals and examine their cumulative relations with AF risk.

BACKGROUND: AF-associated loci span broad genomic regions that may contain multiple susceptibility signals. Whether multiple signals exist at AF loci has not been systematically explored.

METHODS: We performed association testing conditioned on the most significant, independently associated genetic markers at 9 established AF loci using 2 complementary techniques in 64,683 individuals of European ancestry (3,869 incident and 3,302 prevalent AF cases). Genetic risk scores were created and tested for association with AF in Europeans and an independent sample of 11,309 individuals of Japanese ancestry (7,916 prevalent AF cases).

RESULTS: We observed at least 4 distinct AF susceptibility signals on chromosome 4q25 upstream of PITX2, but not at the remaining 8 AF loci. A multilocus score comprised 12 genetic markers demonstrated an estimated 5-fold gradient in AF risk. We observed a similar spectrum of risk associated with these markers in Japanese. Regions containing AF signals on chromosome 4q25 displayed a greater degree of evolutionary conservation than the remainder of the locus, suggesting that they may tag regulatory elements.

CONCLUSIONS: The chromosome 4q25 AF locus is architecturally complex and harbors at least 4 AF susceptibility signals in individuals of European ancestry. Similar polygenic AF susceptibility exists between Europeans and Japanese. Future work is necessary to identify causal variants, determine mechanisms by which associated loci predispose to AF, and explore whether AF susceptibility signals classify individuals at risk for AF and related morbidity.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, Atrial Fibrillation, Chromosome Mapping, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4, Europe, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Homeodomain Proteins, Humans, Japan, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Transcription Factors}, issn = {1558-3597}, doi = {10.1016/j.jacc.2013.12.015}, author = {Lubitz, Steven A and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Lin, Honghuang and Arking, Dan E and Trompet, Stella and Li, Guo and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Chasman, Daniel I and Barnard, John and Kleber, Marcus E and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Ozaki, Kouichi and Smith, Albert V and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Walter, Stefan and Agarwal, Sunil K and Bis, Joshua C and Brody, Jennifer A and Chen, Lin Y and Everett, Brendan M and Ford, Ian and Franco, Oscar H and Harris, Tamara B and Hofman, Albert and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Mahida, Saagar and Kathiresan, Sekar and Kubo, Michiaki and Launer, Lenore J and Macfarlane, Peter W and Magnani, Jared W and McKnight, Barbara and McManus, David D and Peters, Annette and Psaty, Bruce M and Rose, Lynda M and Rotter, Jerome I and Silbernagel, Guenther and Smith, Jonathan D and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Stott, David J and Taylor, Kent D and Tomaschitz, Andreas and Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Van Wagoner, David R and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Murabito, Joanne M and Sinner, Moritz F and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Felix, Stephan B and M{\"a}rz, Winfried and Chung, Mina and Albert, Christine M and Stricker, Bruno H and Tanaka, Toshihiro and Heckbert, Susan R and Jukema, J Wouter and Alonso, Alvaro and Benjamin, Emelia J and Ellinor, Patrick T} } @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 {6149, title = {Targeted sequencing in candidate genes for atrial fibrillation: the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Targeted Sequencing Study.}, journal = {Heart Rhythm}, volume = {11}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Mar}, pages = {452-7}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified common genetic variants that predispose to atrial fibrillation (AF). It is unclear whether rare and low-frequency variants in genes implicated by such GWAS confer additional risk of AF.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association of genetic variants with AF at GWAS top loci.

METHODS: In the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Targeted Sequencing Study, we selected and sequenced 77 target gene regions from GWAS loci of complex diseases or traits, including 4 genes hypothesized to be related to AF (PRRX1, CAV1, CAV2, and ZFHX3). Sequencing was performed in participants with (n = 948) and without (n = 3330) AF from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Framingham Heart Study, and the Massachusetts General Hospital.

RESULTS: One common variant (rs11265611; P = 1.70 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) intronic to IL6R (interleukin-6 receptor gene) was significantly associated with AF after Bonferroni correction (odds ratio 0.70; 95\% confidence interval 0.58-0.85). The variant was not genotyped or imputed by prior GWAS, but it is in linkage disequilibrium (r(2) = .69) with the single-nucleotide polymorphism, with the strongest association with AF so far at this locus (rs4845625). In the rare variant joint analysis, damaging variants within the PRRX1 region showed significant association with AF after Bonferroni correction (P = .01).

CONCLUSIONS: We identified 1 common single-nucleotide polymorphism and 1 gene region that were significantly associated with AF. Future sequencing efforts with larger sample sizes and more comprehensive genome coverage are anticipated to identify additional AF-related variants.

}, keywords = {Aged, Atrial Fibrillation, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Homeodomain Proteins, Humans, Linkage Disequilibrium, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, Interleukin-6}, issn = {1556-3871}, doi = {10.1016/j.hrthm.2013.11.012}, author = {Lin, Honghuang and Sinner, Moritz F and Brody, Jennifer A and Arking, Dan E and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Rienstra, Michiel and Lubitz, Steven A and Magnani, Jared W and Sotoodehnia, Nona and McKnight, Barbara and McManus, David D and Boerwinkle, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Rotter, Jerome I and Bis, Joshua C and Gibbs, Richard A and Muzny, Donna and Kovar, Christie L and Morrison, Alanna C and Gupta, Mayetri and Folsom, Aaron R and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Heckbert, Susan R and Alonso, Alvaro and Ellinor, Patrick T and Benjamin, Emelia J} } @article {7262, title = {52 Genetic Loci Influencing Myocardial~Mass.}, journal = {J Am Coll Cardiol}, volume = {68}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Sep 27}, pages = {1435-48}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Myocardial mass is a key determinant of cardiac muscle function and hypertrophy. Myocardial depolarization leading to cardiac muscle contraction is reflected by the amplitude and duration of the QRS complex on the electrocardiogram (ECG). Abnormal QRS amplitude or duration reflect changes in myocardial mass and conduction, and are associated with increased risk of heart failure and death.

OBJECTIVES: This meta-analysis sought to gain insights into the genetic determinants of myocardial mass.

METHODS: We carried out a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 4 QRS traits in up to 73,518 individuals of European ancestry, followed by extensive biological and functional assessment.

RESULTS: We identified 52 genomic loci, of which 32 are novel, that are reliably associated with 1 or more QRS phenotypes at p~< 1~{\texttimes} 10(-8). These loci are enriched in regions of open chromatin, histone modifications, and transcription factor binding, suggesting that they represent regions of the genome that are actively transcribed in the human heart. Pathway analyses provided evidence that these loci play a role in cardiac hypertrophy. We further highlighted 67~candidate genes at the identified loci that are preferentially expressed in cardiac tissue and associated with cardiac abnormalities in Drosophila melanogaster and Mus musculus. We validated the regulatory function of a novel variant in the SCN5A/SCN10A locus in~vitro and in~vivo.

CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our findings provide new insights into genes and biological pathways controlling myocardial mass and may help identify novel therapeutic targets.

}, issn = {1558-3597}, doi = {10.1016/j.jacc.2016.07.729}, author = {van der Harst, Pim and van Setten, Jessica and Verweij, Niek and Vogler, Georg and Franke, Lude and Maurano, Matthew T and Wang, Xinchen and Mateo Leach, Irene and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Hayward, Caroline and Sorice, Rossella and Meirelles, Osorio and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Polasek, Ozren and Tanaka, Toshiko and Arking, Dan E and Ulivi, Sheila and Trompet, Stella and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Smith, Albert V and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Kerr, Kathleen F and Magnani, Jared W and del Greco M, Fabiola and Zhang, Weihua and Nolte, Ilja M and Silva, Claudia T and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Tragante, Vinicius and Esko, T{\~o}nu and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Adriaens, Michiel E and Andersen, Karl and Barnett, Phil and Bis, Joshua C and Bodmer, Rolf and Buckley, Brendan M and Campbell, Harry and Cannon, Megan V and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Chen, Lin Y and Delitala, Alessandro and Devereux, Richard B and Doevendans, Pieter A and Dominiczak, Anna F and Ferrucci, Luigi and Ford, Ian and Gieger, Christian and Harris, Tamara B and Haugen, Eric and Heinig, Matthias and Hernandez, Dena G and Hillege, Hans L and Hirschhorn, Joel N and Hofman, Albert and Hubner, Norbert and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Iorio, Annamaria and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Kellis, Manolis and Kolcic, Ivana and Kooner, Ishminder K and Kooner, Jaspal S and Kors, Jan A and Lakatta, Edward G and Lage, Kasper and Launer, Lenore J and Levy, Daniel and Lundby, Alicia and Macfarlane, Peter W and May, Dalit and Meitinger, Thomas and Metspalu, Andres and Nappo, Stefania and Naitza, Silvia and Neph, Shane and Nord, Alex S and Nutile, Teresa and Okin, Peter M and Olsen, Jesper V and Oostra, Ben A and Penninger, Josef M and Pennacchio, Len A and Pers, Tune H and Perz, Siegfried and Peters, Annette and Pinto, Yigal M and Pfeufer, Arne and Pilia, Maria Grazia and Pramstaller, Peter P and Prins, Bram P and Raitakari, Olli T and Raychaudhuri, Soumya and Rice, Ken M and Rossin, Elizabeth J and Rotter, Jerome I and Schafer, Sebastian and Schlessinger, David and Schmidt, Carsten O and Sehmi, Jobanpreet and Sillj{\'e}, Herman H W and Sinagra, Gianfranco and Sinner, Moritz F and Slowikowski, Kamil and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Spector, Timothy D and Spiering, Wilko and Stamatoyannopoulos, John A and Stolk, Ronald P and Strauch, Konstantin and Tan, Sian-Tsung and Tarasov, Kirill V and Trinh, Bosco and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van den Boogaard, Malou and van Duijn, Cornelia M and van Gilst, Wiek H and Viikari, Jorma S and Visscher, Peter M and Vitart, Veronique and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Waldenberger, Melanie and Weichenberger, Christian X and Westra, Harm-Jan and Wijmenga, Cisca and Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H and Yang, Jian and Bezzina, Connie R and Munroe, Patricia B and Snieder, Harold and Wright, Alan F and Rudan, Igor and Boyer, Laurie A and Asselbergs, Folkert W and van Veldhuisen, Dirk J and Stricker, Bruno H and Psaty, Bruce M and Ciullo, Marina and Sanna, Serena and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Wilson, James F and Bandinelli, Stefania and Alonso, Alvaro and Gasparini, Paolo and Jukema, J Wouter and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Felix, Stephan B and Heckbert, Susan R and de Boer, Rudolf A and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Hicks, Andrew A and Chambers, John C and Jamshidi, Yalda and Visel, Axel and Christoffels, Vincent M and Isaacs, Aaron and Samani, Nilesh J and de Bakker, Paul I W} } @article {6950, title = {Association of Smoking, Alcohol, and Obesity with Cardiovascular Death and Ischemic Stroke in Atrial Fibrillation: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS).}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {11}, year = {2016}, month = {2016}, pages = {e0147065}, abstract = {

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke and cardiovascular (CV) death. Whether modifiable lifestyle risk factors are associated with these CV outcomes in AF is unknown. Among Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) participants with incident AF, we estimated the risk of composite endpoint of ischemic stroke or CV death associated with candidate modifiable risk factor (smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, or high body mass index [BMI]), and computed the C-statistic, net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) of incorporating each factor into the CHA2DS2-VASc. Among 1222 ARIC (mean age: 63.4) and 756 CHS (mean age: 79.1) participants with incident AF, during mean follow-up of 6.9 years and 5.7 years, there were 332 and 335 composite events respectively. Compared with never smokers, current smokers had a higher incidence of the composite endpoint in ARIC [HR: 1.65 (1.21-2.26)] but not in CHS [HR: 1.05 (0.69-1.61)]. In ARIC, the addition of current smoking did not improve risk prediction over and above the CHA2DS2-VASc. No significant associations were observed with alcohol consumption or BMI with CVD outcomes in AF patients from either cohort. Smoking is associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke or CV death in ARIC, which comprised mostly middle-aged to young-old (65-74 years), but not in CHS, which comprised mostly middle-old or oldest-old (>=75 years) adults with AF. However, addition of smoking to the CHA2DS2-VASc score did not improve risk prediction of these outcomes.

}, keywords = {Aged, Alcohol Drinking, Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiovascular Diseases, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Smoking, Stroke}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0147065}, author = {Kwon, Younghoon and Norby, Faye L and Jensen, Paul N and Agarwal, Sunil K and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Lip, Gregory Y H and Longstreth, W T and Alonso, Alvaro and Heckbert, Susan R and Chen, Lin Y} } @article {7243, title = {Development and Validation of a Sudden Cardiac Death Prediction Model for the General Population.}, journal = {Circulation}, volume = {134}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Sep 13}, pages = {806-16}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Most sudden cardiac death (SCD) events occur in the general population among persons who do not have any prior history of clinical heart disease. We sought to develop a predictive model of SCD among US adults.

METHODS: We evaluated a series of demographic, clinical, laboratory, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic measures in participants in the ARIC study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) (n=13 677) and the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study) (n=4207) who were free of baseline cardiovascular disease. Our initial objective was to derive a SCD prediction model using the ARIC cohort and validate it in CHS. Independent risk factors for SCD were first identified in the ARIC cohort to derive a 10-year risk model of SCD. We compared the prediction of SCD with non-SCD and all-cause mortality in both the derivation and validation cohorts. Furthermore, we evaluated whether the SCD prediction equation was better at predicting SCD than the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Cardiovascular Disease Pooled Cohort risk equation.

RESULTS: There were a total of 345 adjudicated SCD events in our analyses, and the 12 independent risk factors in the ARIC study included age, male sex, black race, current smoking, systolic blood pressure, use of antihypertensive medication, diabetes mellitus, serum potassium, serum albumin, high-density lipoprotein, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and QTc interval. During a 10-year follow-up period, a model combining these risk factors showed good to excellent discrimination for SCD risk (c-statistic 0.820 in ARIC and 0.745 in CHS). The SCD prediction model was slightly better in predicting SCD than the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Pooled Cohort risk equations (c-statistic 0.808 in ARIC and 0.743 in CHS). Only the SCD prediction model, however, demonstrated similar and accurate prediction for SCD using both the original, uncalibrated score and the recalibrated equation. Finally, in the echocardiographic subcohort, a left ventricular ejection fraction <50\% was present in only 1.1\% of participants and did not enhance SCD prediction.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to derive and validate a generalizable risk score that provides well-calibrated, absolute risk estimates across different risk strata in an adult population of white and black participants without a clinical diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

}, issn = {1524-4539}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.116.023042}, author = {Deo, Rajat and Norby, Faye L and Katz, Ronit and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Adabag, Selcuk and deFilippi, Christopher R and Kestenbaum, Bryan and Chen, Lin Y and Heckbert, Susan R and Folsom, Aaron R and Kronmal, Richard A and Konety, Suma and Patton, Kristen K and Siscovick, David and Shlipak, Michael G and Alonso, Alvaro} } @article {6905, title = {Diabetes mellitus and venous thromboembolism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.}, journal = {Diabetes Res Clin Pract}, volume = {111}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Jan}, pages = {10-8}, abstract = {

UNLABELLED: Diabetes mellitus (DM) may be a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE) but results are inconsistent.

AIM: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies to quantify the association between DM and VTE.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We included studies identified in PubMed, Web of Science, and CINAHL through 07/31/2014. We identified 19 studies that met our selection criteria. We pooled RRs using a random-effects model: the pooled RR for the association of DM with VTE was 1.10 (95\% CI: 0.94-1.29). Between-study heterogeneity was explored with a forest plot, funnel plot, meta-regression, and a stratified analysis. Between-study heterogeneity was observed and not explained by study design, method of DM assessment, or degree of adjustment for confounding. Sensitivity analyses omitted one study at a time to assess the influence of any single study on the pooled estimate. These analyses indicated that one large study was highly influential; when this study was excluded, the pooled estimate increased and just reached statistical significance: 1.16 (95\% CI: 1.01-1.34).

CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests either no association or a modest positive one between DM and VTE in the general population. DM is unlikely to play a major role in VTE development.

}, issn = {1872-8227}, doi = {10.1016/j.diabres.2015.10.019}, author = {Bell, Elizabeth J and Folsom, Aaron R and Lutsey, Pamela L and Selvin, Elizabeth and Zakai, Neil A and Cushman, Mary and Alonso, Alvaro} } @article {7125, title = {Echocardiographic Predictors of Sudden Cardiac Death: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study and Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Imaging}, volume = {9}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Aug}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: This study assessed the echocardiographic predictors of sudden cardiac death (SCD) within 2 population-based cohorts.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Echocardiograms were obtained on 2383 participants (1993-1995) from the ARIC study (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities; 100\% black) and 5366 participants (1987-1989 and 1994-1995) from the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study). The main outcome was physician-adjudicated SCD. We used Cox proportional-hazards models with incident coronary heart disease and heart failure as time-dependent covariates to assess the association between echocardiographic variables and SCD, adjusting for Framingham risk score variables, coronary heart disease, and renal function. Cohort-specific results were meta-analyzed. During a median follow-up of 7.3 and 13.1 years, 44 ARIC study participants and 275 CHS participants had SCD, respectively. In the meta-analyzed results, the adjusted hazard ratios (95\% confidence intervals) for predictors of SCD were 3.07 (2.29-4.11) for reduced left ventricular ejection fraction; 1.85 (1.36-2.52) for mitral annular calcification; 1.64 (1.07-2.51) for mitral E/A >1.5, and 1.52 (1.14-2.02) for mitral E/A <0.7 (versus mitral E/A 0.7-1.5); 1.30 (1.15-1.48) per 1 SD increase in left ventricular mass; and 1.15 (1.02-1.30) per 1 SD increase in left atrial diameter. A receiver-operating characteristic model for prediction of SCD using Framingham risk score variables had a C statistic of 0.61 for ARIC study and 0.67 for CHS; the full multivariable model including all echocardiographic variables had a C statistic of 0.76 for ARIC study and 0.74 for CHS.

CONCLUSIONS: In addition to reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, we identified other echocardiographic-derived variables predictive for SCD that provided incremental value compared with clinical risk factors.

}, issn = {1942-0080}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.115.004431}, author = {Konety, Suma H and Koene, Ryan J and Norby, Faye L and Wilsdon, Tony and Alonso, Alvaro and Siscovick, David and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Gottdiener, John and Fox, Ervin R and Chen, Lin Y and Adabag, Selcuk and Folsom, Aaron R} } @article {7259, title = {Fine-mapping, novel loci identification, and SNP association transferability in a genome-wide association study of QRS duration in African Americans.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Aug 29}, abstract = {

The electrocardiographic QRS duration, a measure of ventricular depolarization and conduction, is associated with cardiovascular mortality. While single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with QRS duration have been identified at 22 loci in populations of European descent, the genetic architecture of QRS duration in non-European populations is largely unknown. We therefore performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of QRS duration in 13,031 African Americans from ten cohorts and a transethnic GWAS meta-analysis with additional results from populations of European descent. In the African American GWAS, a single genome-wide significant SNP association was identified (rs3922844, P = 4 {\texttimes} 10(-14)) in intron 16 of SCN5A, a voltage-gated cardiac sodium channel gene. The QRS-prolonging rs3922844 C allele was also associated with decreased SCN5A RNA expression in human atrial tissue (P = 1.1 {\texttimes} 10(-4)). High density genotyping revealed that the SCN5A association region in African Americans was confined to intron 16. Transethnic GWAS meta-analysis identified novel SNP associations on chromosome 18 in MYL12A (rs1662342, P = 4.9 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) and chromosome 1 near CD1E and SPTA1 (rs7547997, P = 7.9 {\texttimes} 10(-9)). The 22 QRS loci previously identified in populations of European descent were enriched for significant SNP associations with QRS duration in African Americans (P = 9.9 {\texttimes} 10(-7)), and index SNP associations in or near SCN5A, SCN10A, CDKN1A, NFIA, HAND1, TBX5 and SETBP1 replicated in African Americans. In summary, rs3922844 was associated with QRS duration and SCN5A expression, two novel QRS loci were identified using transethnic meta-analysis, and a significant proportion of QRS-SNP associations discovered in populations of European descent were transferable to African Americans when adequate power was achieved.

}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddw284}, author = {Evans, Daniel S and Avery, Christy L and Nalls, Mike A and Li, Guo and Barnard, John and Smith, Erin N and Tanaka, Toshiko and Butler, Anne M and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and Berenson, Gerald S and Bis, Joshua C and Buyske, Steven and Carty, Cara L and Chen, Wei and Chung, Mina K and Cummings, Steven R and Deo, Rajat and Eaton, Charles B and Fox, Ervin R and Heckbert, Susan R and Heiss, Gerardo and Hindorff, Lucia A and Hsueh, Wen-Chi and Isaacs, Aaron and Jamshidi, Yalda and Kerr, Kathleen F and Liu, Felix and Liu, Yongmei and Lohman, Kurt K and Magnani, Jared W and Maher, Joseph F and Mehra, Reena and Meng, Yan A and Musani, Solomon K and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and North, Kari E and Psaty, Bruce M and Redline, Susan and Rotter, Jerome I and Schnabel, Renate B and Schork, Nicholas J and Shohet, Ralph V and Singleton, Andrew B and Smith, Jonathan D and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Taylor, Herman A and Van Wagoner, David R and Wilson, James G and Young, Taylor and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Zonderman, Alan B and Evans, Michele K and Ferrucci, Luigi and Murray, Sarah S and Tranah, Gregory J and Whitsel, Eric A and Reiner, Alex P and Sotoodehnia, Nona} } @article {7165, title = {Genetic Investigation Into the Differential Risk of Atrial Fibrillation Among Black and White Individuals.}, journal = {JAMA Cardiol}, volume = {1}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Jul 1}, pages = {442-50}, abstract = {

IMPORTANCE: White persons have a higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with black individuals despite a lower prevalence of risk factors. This difference may be due, at least in part, to genetic factors.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether 9 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with AF account for this paradoxical differential racial risk for AF and to use admixture mapping to search genome-wide for loci that may account for this phenomenon.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Genome-wide admixture analysis and candidate SNP study involving 3 population-based cohort studies that were initiated between 1987 and 1997, including the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) (n = 4173), the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) (n = 12 341) study, and the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) (n = 1015) study. In all 3 studies, race was self-identified. Cox proportional hazards regression models and the proportion of treatment effect method were used to determine the impact of 9 AF-risk SNPs among participants from CHS and the ARIC study. The present study began July 1, 2012, and was completed in 2015.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Incident AF systematically ascertained using clinic visit electrocardiograms, hospital discharge diagnosis codes, death certificates, and Medicare claims data.

RESULTS: A single SNP, rs10824026 (chromosome 10: position 73661450), was found to significantly mediate the higher risk for AF in white participants compared with black participants in CHS (11.4\%; 95\% CI, 2.9\%-29.9\%) and ARIC (31.7\%; 95\% CI, 16.0\%-53.0\%). Admixture mapping was performed in a meta-analysis of black participants within CHS (n = 811), ARIC (n = 3112), and Health ABC (n = 1015). No loci that reached the prespecified statistical threshold for genome-wide significance were identified.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The rs10824026 SNP on chromosome 10q22 mediates a modest proportion of the increased risk of AF among white individuals compared with black individuals, potentially through an effect on gene expression levels of MYOZ1. No additional genetic variants accounting for a significant portion of the differential racial risk of AF were identified with genome-wide admixture mapping, suggesting that additional genetic or environmental influences beyond single SNPs in isolation may account for the paradoxical racial risk of AF among white individuals and black individuals.

}, issn = {2380-6591}, doi = {10.1001/jamacardio.2016.1185}, author = {Roberts, Jason D and Hu, Donglei and Heckbert, Susan R and Alonso, Alvaro and Dewland, Thomas A and Vittinghoff, Eric and Liu, Yongmei and Psaty, Bruce M and Olgin, Jeffrey E and Magnani, Jared W and Huntsman, Scott and Burchard, Esteban G and Arking, Dan E and Bibbins-Domingo, Kirsten and Harris, Tamara B and Perez, Marco V and Ziv, Elad and Marcus, Gregory M} } @article {7166, title = {Impact of genetic variants on the upstream efficacy of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors for the prevention of atrial fibrillation.}, journal = {Am Heart J}, volume = {175}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 May}, pages = {9-17}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibition via angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers may reduce the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) in certain populations, but the evidence is conflicting. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with AF, potentially identifying clinically relevant subtypes of the disease. We sought to investigate the impact of carrier status of 9 AF-associated SNPs on the efficacy of RAS inhibition for the primary prevention of AF.

METHODS: We performed SNP-RAS inhibitor interaction testing with unadjusted and adjusted Cox proportional hazards models using a discovery (Cardiovascular Health Study) and a replication (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) cohort. Additive genetic models were used for the SNP analyses, and 2-tailed P values <.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: Among 2,796 Cardiovascular Health Study participants, none of the 9 a priori identified candidate SNPs exhibited a significant SNP-drug interaction. Two of the 9 SNPs, rs2106261 (16q22) and rs6666258 (1q21), revealed interaction relationships that neared statistical significance (with point estimates in the same direction for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor only and angiotensin II receptor blocker only analyses), but neither association could be replicated among 8,604 participants in Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study failed to identify AF-associated SNP genetic subtypes of AF that derive increased benefit from upstream RAS inhibition for AF prevention. Future studies should continue to investigate the impact of genotype on the response to AF treatment strategies in an effort to develop personalized approaches to therapy and prevention.

}, issn = {1097-6744}, doi = {10.1016/j.ahj.2016.02.002}, author = {Roberts, Jason D and Dewland, Thomas A and Glidden, David V and Hoffmann, Thomas J and Arking, Dan E and Chen, Lin Y and Psaty, Bruce M and Olgin, Jeffrey E and Alonso, Alvaro and Heckbert, Susan R and Marcus, Gregory M} } @article {7604, title = {Twenty-eight genetic loci associated with ST-T-wave amplitudes of the electrocardiogram.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {25}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 05 15}, pages = {2093-2103}, abstract = {

The ST-segment and adjacent T-wave (ST-T wave) amplitudes of the electrocardiogram are quantitative characteristics of cardiac repolarization. Repolarization abnormalities have been linked to ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. We performed the first genome-wide association meta-analysis of ST-T-wave amplitudes in up to 37 977 individuals identifying 71 robust genotype-phenotype associations clustered within 28 independent loci. Fifty-four genes were prioritized as candidates underlying the phenotypes, including genes with established roles in the cardiac repolarization phase (SCN5A/SCN10A, KCND3, KCNB1, NOS1AP and HEY2) and others with as yet undefined cardiac function. These associations may provide insights in the spatiotemporal contribution of genetic variation influencing cardiac repolarization and provide novel leads for future functional follow-up.

}, keywords = {Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing, Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors, Brugada Syndrome, Cardiac Conduction System Disease, Death, Sudden, Cardiac, Electrocardiography, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Conduction System, Humans, Male, NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Repressor Proteins, Shab Potassium Channels, Shal Potassium Channels}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddw058}, author = {Verweij, Niek and Mateo Leach, Irene and Isaacs, Aaron and Arking, Dan E and Bis, Joshua C and Pers, Tune H and van den Berg, Marten E and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Barnett, Phil and Wang, Xinchen and Soliman, Elsayed Z and van Duijn, Cornelia M and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and van Veldhuisen, Dirk J and Kors, Jan A and Raitakari, Olli T and Silva, Claudia T and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Hillege, Hans L and Hirschhorn, Joel N and Boyer, Laurie A and van Gilst, Wiek H and Alonso, Alvaro and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Eijgelsheim, Mark and de Boer, Rudolf A and de Bakker, Paul I W and Franke, Lude and van der Harst, Pim} } @article {7250, title = {Whole Exome Sequencing in Atrial Fibrillation.}, journal = {PLoS Genet}, volume = {12}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Sep}, pages = {e1006284}, abstract = {

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a morbid and heritable arrhythmia. Over 35 genes have been reported to underlie AF, most of which were described in small candidate gene association studies. Replication remains lacking for most, and therefore the contribution of coding variation to AF susceptibility remains poorly understood. We examined whole exome sequencing data in a large community-based sample of 1,734 individuals with and 9,423 without AF from the Framingham Heart Study, Cardiovascular Health Study, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, and NHLBI-GO Exome Sequencing Project and meta-analyzed the results. We also examined whether genetic variation was enriched in suspected AF genes (N = 37) in AF cases versus controls. The mean age ranged from 59 to 73 years; 8,656 (78\%) were of European ancestry. None of the 99,404 common variants evaluated was significantly associated after adjusting for multiple testing. Among the most significantly associated variants was a common (allele frequency = 86\%) missense variant in SYNPO2L (rs3812629, p.Pro707Leu, [odds ratio 1.27, 95\% confidence interval 1.13-1.43, P = 6.6x10-5]) which lies at a known AF susceptibility locus and is in linkage disequilibrium with a top marker from prior analyses at the locus. We did not observe significant associations between rare variants and AF in gene-based tests. Individuals with AF did not display any statistically significant enrichment for common or rare coding variation in previously implicated AF genes. In conclusion, we did not observe associations between coding genetic variants and AF, suggesting that large-effect coding variation is not the predominant mechanism underlying AF. A coding variant in SYNPO2L requires further evaluation to determine whether it is causally related to AF. Efforts to identify biologically meaningful coding variation underlying AF may require large sample sizes or populations enriched for large genetic effects.

}, issn = {1553-7404}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1006284}, author = {Lubitz, Steven A and Brody, Jennifer A and Bihlmeyer, Nathan A and Roselli, Carolina and Weng, Lu-Chen and Christophersen, Ingrid E and Alonso, Alvaro and Boerwinkle, Eric and Gibbs, Richard A and Bis, Joshua C and Cupples, L Adrienne and Mohler, Peter J and Nickerson, Deborah A and Muzny, Donna and Perez, Marco V and Psaty, Bruce M and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Benjamin, Emelia J and Heckbert, Susan R and Arking, Dan E and Ellinor, Patrick T and Lin, Honghuang} } @article {7363, title = {Discovery of novel heart rate-associated loci using the Exome Chip.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Apr 03}, abstract = {

Background Resting heart rate is a heritable trait, and an increase in heart rate is associated with increased mortality risk. GWAS analyses have found loci associated with resting heart rate, at the time of our study these loci explained 0.9\% of the variation.Aim To discover new genetic loci associated with heart rate from Exome Chip meta-analyses.Methods Heart rate was measured from either elecrtrocardiograms or pulse recordings. We meta-analysed heart rate association results from 104,452 European-ancestry individuals from 30 cohorts, genotyped using the Exome Chip. Twenty-four variants were selected for follow-up in an independent dataset (UK Biobank, N = 134,251). Conditional and gene-based testing was undertaken, and variants were investigated with bioinformatics methods.Results We discovered five novel heart rate loci, and one new independent low-frequency non-synonymous variant in an established heart rate locus (KIAA1755). Lead variants in four of the novel loci are non-synonymous variants in the genes C10orf71, DALDR3, TESK2, SEC31B. The variant at SEC31B is significantly associated with SEC31B expression in heart and tibial nerve tissue. Further candidate genes were detected from long range regulatory chromatin interactions in heart tissue (SCD, SLF2, MAPK8). We observed significant enrichment in DNase I hypersensitive sites in fetal heart and lung. Moreover, enrichment was seen for the first time in human neuronal progenitor cells (derived from embryonic stem cells) and fetal muscle samples by including our novel variants.Conclusion Our findings advance the knowledge of the genetic architecture of heart rate, and indicate new candidate genes for follow-up functional studies.

}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddx113}, author = {van den Berg, Marten E and Warren, Helen R and Cabrera, Claudia P and Verweij, Niek and Mifsud, Borbala and Haessler, Jeffrey and Bihlmeyer, Nathan A and Fu, Yi-Ping and Weiss, Stefan and Lin, Henry J and Grarup, Niels and Li-Gao, Ruifang and Pistis, Giorgio and Shah, Nabi and Brody, Jennifer A and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Lin, Honghuang and Mei, Hao and Smith, Albert V and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Hall, Leanne M and van Setten, Jessica and Trompet, Stella and Prins, Bram P and Isaacs, Aaron and Radmanesh, Farid and Marten, Jonathan and Entwistle, Aiman and Kors, Jan A and Silva, Claudia T and Alonso, Alvaro and Bis, Joshua C and de Boer, Rudolf and de Haan, Hugoline G and de Mutsert, Ren{\'e}e and Dedoussis, George and Dominiczak, Anna F and Doney, Alex S F and Ellinor, Patrick T and Eppinga, Ruben N and Felix, Stephan B and Guo, Xiuqing and Hagemeijer, Yanick and Hansen, Torben and Harris, Tamara B and Heckbert, Susan R and Huang, Paul L and Hwang, Shih-Jen and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Kanters, J{\o}rgen K and Kolcic, Ivana and Launer, Lenore J and Li, Man and Yao, Jie and Linneberg, Allan and Liu, Simin and Macfarlane, Peter W and Mangino, Massimo and Morris, Andrew D and Mulas, Antonella and Murray, Alison D and Nelson, Christopher P and Orr{\`u}, Marco and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Peters, Annette and Porteous, David J and Poulter, Neil and Psaty, Bruce M and Qi, Lihong and Raitakari, Olli T and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Roselli, Carolina and Rudan, Igor and Sattar, Naveed and Sever, Peter and Sinner, Moritz F and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Spector, Timothy D and Stanton, Alice V and Stirrups, Kathleen E and Taylor, Kent D and Tobin, Martin D and Uitterlinden, Andre and Vaartjes, Ilonca and Hoes, Arno W and van der Meer, Peter and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Waldenberger, Melanie and Xie, Zhijun and Zoledziewska, Magdalena and Tinker, Andrew and Polasek, Ozren and Rosand, Jonathan and Jamshidi, Yalda and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Zeggini, Eleftheria and Wouter Jukema, J and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Samani, Nilesh J and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Wilson, James and Lubitz, Steven A and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Caulfield, Mark J and Palmer, Colin N A and Sanna, Serena and Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O and Deloukas, Panos and Pedersen, Oluf and Rotter, Jerome I and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Chris J and Hayward, Caroline and Arking, Dan E and Kooperberg, Charles and van der Harst, Pim and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Stricker, Bruno H and Munroe, Patricia B} } @article {7489, title = {Ectopy on a Single 12-Lead ECG, Incident Cardiac Myopathy, and Death in the Community.}, journal = {J Am Heart Assoc}, volume = {6}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Aug 03}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation and heart failure are 2 of the most common diseases, yet ready means to identify individuals at risk are lacking. The 12-lead ECG is one of the most accessible tests in medicine. Our objective was to determine whether a premature atrial contraction observed on a standard 12-lead ECG would predict atrial fibrillation and mortality and whether a premature ventricular contraction would predict heart failure and mortality.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We utilized the CHS (Cardiovascular Health) Study, which followed 5577 participants for a median of 12~years, as the primary cohort. The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study), the replication cohort, captured data from 15~792 participants over a median of 22~years. In the CHS, multivariable analyses revealed that a baseline 12-lead ECG premature atrial contraction predicted a 60\% increased risk of atrial fibrillation (hazard ratio, 1.6; 95\% CI, 1.3-2.0; P<0.001) and a premature ventricular contraction predicted a 30\% increased risk of heart failure (hazard ratio, 1.3; 95\% CI, 1.0-1.6; P=0.021). In the negative control analyses, neither predicted incident myocardial infarction. A premature atrial contraction was associated with a 30\% increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.3; 95\% CI, 1.1-1.5; P=0.008) and a premature ventricular contraction was associated with a 20\% increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.2; 95\% CI, 1.0-1.3; P=0.044). Similarly statistically significant results for each analysis were also observed in ARIC.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on a single standard ECG, a premature atrial contraction predicted incident atrial fibrillation and death and a premature ventricular contraction predicted incident heart failure and death, suggesting that this commonly used test may predict future disease.

}, issn = {2047-9980}, doi = {10.1161/JAHA.117.006028}, author = {Nguyen, Kaylin T and Vittinghoff, Eric and Dewland, Thomas A and Dukes, Jonathan W and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Stein, Phyllis K and Gottdiener, John S and Alonso, Alvaro and Chen, Lin Y and Psaty, Bruce M and Heckbert, Susan R and Marcus, Gregory M} } @article {7464, title = {eGFR and Albuminuria in Relation to Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation: A Meta-Analysis of the Jackson Heart Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Clin J Am Soc Nephrol}, volume = {12}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Sep 07}, pages = {1386-1398}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The incidence of atrial fibrillation is high in ESRD, but limited data are available on the incidence of atrial fibrillation across a broad range of kidney function. Thus, we examined the association of eGFR and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio with risk of incident atrial fibrillation.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, \& MEASUREMENTS: We meta-analyzed three prospective cohorts: the Jackson Heart Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Cardiovascular Health Study. Cox regression models were performed examining the association of eGFR and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio with incident atrial fibrillation adjusting for demographics and comorbidity. In additional analyses, we adjusted for measures of subclinical cardiovascular disease (by electrocardiogram and cardiac imaging) and interim heart failure and myocardial infarction events.

RESULTS: In the meta-analyzed study population of 16,769 participants without prevalent atrial fibrillation, across categories of decreasing eGFR (eGFR>90 [reference], 60-89, 45-59, 30-44, and <30 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)), there was a stepwise increase in the adjusted risk of incident atrial fibrillation: hazard ratios (95\% confidence intervals) were 1.00, 1.09 (0.97 to 1.24), 1.17 (1.00 to 1.38), 1.59 (1.28 to 1.98), and 2.03 (1.40 to 2.96), respectively. There was a stepwise increase in the adjusted risk of incident atrial fibrillation across categories of increasing urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio <15 [reference], 15-29, 30-299, and >=300 mg/g): hazard ratios (95\% confidence intervals) were 1.00, 1.04 (0.83 to 1.30), 1.47 (1.20 to 1.79), and 1.76 (1.18 to 2.62), respectively. The associations were consistent after adjustment for subclinical cardiovascular disease measures and interim heart failure and myocardial infarction events.

CONCLUSIONS: In this meta-analysis of three cohorts, reduced eGFR and elevated urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio were significantly associated with greater risk of incident atrial fibrillation, highlighting the need for further studies to understand mechanisms linking kidney disease with atrial fibrillation.

}, issn = {1555-905X}, doi = {10.2215/CJN.01860217}, author = {Bansal, Nisha and Zelnick, Leila R and Alonso, Alvaro and Benjamin, Emelia J and de Boer, Ian H and Deo, Rajat and Katz, Ronit and Kestenbaum, Bryan and Mathew, Jehu and Robinson-Cohen, Cassianne and Sarnak, Mark J and Shlipak, Michael G and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Young, Bessie and Heckbert, Susan R} } @article {7557, title = {Fifteen Genetic Loci Associated With the Electrocardiographic P Wave.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {10}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Aug}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The P wave on an ECG is a measure of atrial electric function, and its characteristics may serve as predictors for atrial arrhythmias. Increased mean P-wave duration and P-wave terminal force traditionally have been used as markers for left atrial enlargement, and both have been associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation. Here, we explore the genetic basis of P-wave morphology through meta-analysis of genome-wide association study results for P-wave duration and P-wave terminal force from 12 cohort studies.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We included 44 456 individuals, of which 6778 (16\%) were of African ancestry. Genotyping, imputation, and genome-wide association study were performed at each study site. Summary-level results were meta-analyzed centrally using inverse-variance weighting. In meta-analyses of P-wave duration, we identified 6 significant (P<5{\texttimes}10-8) novel loci and replicated a prior association with SCN10A. We identified 3 loci at SCN5A, TBX5, and CAV1/CAV2 that were jointly associated with the PR interval, PR segment, and P-wave duration. We identified 6 novel loci in meta-analysis of P-wave terminal force. Four of the identified genetic loci were significantly associated with gene expression in 329 left atrial samples. Finally, we observed that some of the loci associated with the P wave were linked to overall atrial conduction, whereas others identified distinct phases of atrial conduction.

CONCLUSIONS: We have identified 6 novel genetic loci associated with P-wave duration and 6 novel loci associated with P-wave terminal force. Future studies of these loci may aid in identifying new targets for drugs that may modify atrial conduction or treat atrial arrhythmias.

}, keywords = {Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Caveolin 1, Caveolin 2, Electrocardiography, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Heart Atria, Humans, NAV1.5 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, NAV1.8 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel, T-Box Domain Proteins}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.116.001667}, author = {Christophersen, Ingrid E and Magnani, Jared W and Yin, Xiaoyan and Barnard, John and Weng, Lu-Chen and Arking, Dan E and Niemeijer, Maartje N and Lubitz, Steven A and Avery, Christy L and Duan, Qing and Felix, Stephan B and Bis, Joshua C and Kerr, Kathleen F and Isaacs, Aaron and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and M{\"u}ller, Christian and North, Kari E and Reiner, Alex P and Tinker, Lesley F and Kors, Jan A and Teumer, Alexander and Petersmann, Astrid and Sinner, Moritz F and B{\r u}zkov{\'a}, Petra and Smith, Jonathan D and Van Wagoner, David R and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Waldenberger, Melanie and Peters, Annette and Meitinger, Thomas and Limacher, Marian C and Wilhelmsen, Kirk C and Psaty, Bruce M and Hofman, Albert and Uitterlinden, Andre and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Schnabel, Renate B and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and van Duijn, Cornelia and Rotter, Jerome I and Sotoodehnia, Nona and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Li, Yun and Chung, Mina K and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Alonso, Alvaro and Whitsel, Eric A and Stricker, Bruno H and Benjamin, Emelia J and Heckbert, Susan R and Ellinor, Patrick T} } @article {7595, title = {Genetic Interactions with Age, Sex, Body Mass Index, and Hypertension in Relation to Atrial Fibrillation: The AFGen Consortium.}, journal = {Sci Rep}, volume = {7}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Sep 12}, pages = {11303}, abstract = {

It is unclear whether genetic markers interact with risk factors to influence atrial fibrillation (AF) risk. We performed genome-wide interaction analyses between genetic variants and age, sex, hypertension, and body mass index in the AFGen Consortium. Study-specific results were combined using meta-analysis (88,383 individuals of European descent, including 7,292 with AF). Variants with nominal interaction associations in the discovery analysis were tested for association in four independent studies (131,441 individuals, including 5,722 with AF). In the discovery analysis, the AF risk associated with the minor rs6817105 allele (at the PITX2 locus) was greater among subjects <= 65 years of age than among those > 65 years (interaction p-value = 4.0 {\texttimes} 10-5). The interaction p-value exceeded genome-wide significance in combined discovery and replication analyses (interaction p-value = 1.7 {\texttimes} 10-8). We observed one genome-wide significant interaction with body mass index and several suggestive interactions with age, sex, and body mass index in the discovery analysis. However, none was replicated in the independent sample. Our findings suggest that the pathogenesis of AF may differ according to age in individuals of European descent, but we did not observe evidence of statistically significant genetic interactions with sex, body mass index, or hypertension on AF risk.

}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-017-09396-7}, author = {Weng, Lu-Chen and Lunetta, Kathryn L and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Smith, Albert Vernon and Th{\'e}riault, S{\'e}bastien and Weeke, Peter E and Barnard, John and Bis, Joshua C and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Kleber, Marcus E and Martinsson, Andreas and Lin, Henry J and Rienstra, Michiel and Trompet, Stella and Krijthe, Bouwe P and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Klarin, Derek and Chasman, Daniel I and Sinner, Moritz F and Waldenberger, Melanie and Launer, Lenore J and Harris, Tamara B and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Alonso, Alvaro and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and Teixeira, Pedro L and Denny, Joshua C and Shoemaker, M Benjamin and Van Wagoner, David R and Smith, Jonathan D and Psaty, Bruce M and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Taylor, Kent D and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Nikus, Kjell and Delgado, Graciela E and Melander, Olle and Engstr{\"o}m, Gunnar and Yao, Jie and Guo, Xiuqing and Christophersen, Ingrid E and Ellinor, Patrick T and Geelhoed, Bastiaan and Verweij, Niek and Macfarlane, Peter and Ford, Ian and Heeringa, Jan and Franco, Oscar H and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Teumer, Alexander and Rose, Lynda M and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Arking, Dan E and Conen, David and Roden, Dan M and Chung, Mina K and Heckbert, Susan R and Benjamin, Emelia J and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and M{\"a}rz, Winfried and Smith, J Gustav and Rotter, Jerome I and van der Harst, Pim and Jukema, J Wouter and Stricker, Bruno H and Felix, Stephan B and Albert, Christine M and Lubitz, Steven A} } @article {7579, title = {Genetic loci associated with heart rate variability and their effects on cardiac disease risk.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {8}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jun 14}, pages = {15805}, abstract = {

Reduced cardiac vagal control reflected in low heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with greater risks for cardiac morbidity and mortality. In two-stage meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies for three HRV traits in up to 53,174 individuals of European ancestry, we detect 17 genome-wide significant SNPs in eight loci. HRV SNPs tag non-synonymous SNPs (in NDUFA11 and KIAA1755), expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) (influencing GNG11, RGS6 and NEO1), or are located in genes preferentially expressed in the sinoatrial node (GNG11, RGS6 and HCN4). Genetic risk scores account for 0.9 to 2.6\% of the HRV variance. Significant genetic correlation is found for HRV with heart rate (-0.74}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms15805}, author = {Nolte, Ilja M and Munoz, M Loretto and Tragante, Vinicius and Amare, Azmeraw T and Jansen, Rick and Vaez, Ahmad and von der Heyde, Benedikt and Avery, Christy L and Bis, Joshua C and Dierckx, Bram and van Dongen, Jenny and Gogarten, Stephanie M and Goyette, Philippe and Hernesniemi, Jussi and Huikari, Ville and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Jaju, Deepali and Kerr, Kathleen F and Kluttig, Alexander and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Kumar, Jitender and van der Laan, Sander W and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Maihofer, Adam X and Minassian, Arpi and van der Most, Peter J and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Nivard, Michel and Salvi, Erika and Stewart, James D and Thayer, Julian F and Verweij, Niek and Wong, Andrew and Zabaneh, Delilah and Zafarmand, Mohammad H and Abdellaoui, Abdel and Albarwani, Sulayma and Albert, Christine and Alonso, Alvaro and Ashar, Foram and Auvinen, Juha and Axelsson, Tomas and Baker, Dewleen G and de Bakker, Paul I W and Barcella, Matteo and Bayoumi, Riad and Bieringa, Rob J and Boomsma, Dorret and Boucher, Gabrielle and Britton, Annie R and Christophersen, Ingrid and Dietrich, Andrea and Ehret, George B and Ellinor, Patrick T and Eskola, Markku and Felix, Janine F and Floras, John S and Franco, Oscar H and Friberg, Peter and Gademan, Maaike G J and Geyer, Mark A and Giedraitis, Vilmantas and Hartman, Catharina A and Hemerich, Daiane and Hofman, Albert and Hottenga, Jouke-Jan and Huikuri, Heikki and Hutri-K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Nina and Jouven, Xavier and Junttila, Juhani and Juonala, Markus and Kiviniemi, Antti M and Kors, Jan A and Kumari, Meena and Kuznetsova, Tatiana and Laurie, Cathy C and Lefrandt, Joop D and Li, Yong and Li, Yun and Liao, Duanping and Limacher, Marian C and Lin, Henry J and Lindgren, Cecilia M and Lubitz, Steven A and Mahajan, Anubha and McKnight, Barbara and Zu Schwabedissen, Henriette Meyer and Milaneschi, Yuri and Mononen, Nina and Morris, Andrew P and Nalls, Mike A and Navis, Gerjan and Neijts, Melanie and Nikus, Kjell and North, Kari E and O{\textquoteright}Connor, Daniel T and Ormel, Johan and Perz, Siegfried and Peters, Annette and Psaty, Bruce M and Raitakari, Olli T and Risbrough, Victoria B and Sinner, Moritz F and Siscovick, David and Smit, Johannes H and Smith, Nicholas L and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Staessen, Jan A and Stein, Phyllis K and Stilp, Adrienne M and Stolarz-Skrzypek, Katarzyna and Strauch, Konstantin and Sundstr{\"o}m, Johan and Swenne, Cees A and Syv{\"a}nen, Ann-Christine and Tardif, Jean-Claude and Taylor, Kent D and Teumer, Alexander and Thornton, Timothy A and Tinker, Lesley E and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van Setten, Jessica and Voss, Andreas and Waldenberger, Melanie and Wilhelmsen, Kirk C and Willemsen, Gonneke and Wong, Quenna and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Zonderman, Alan B and Cusi, Daniele and Evans, Michele K and Greiser, Halina K and van der Harst, Pim and Hassan, Mohammad and Ingelsson, Erik and Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Kivimaki, Mika and Kooperberg, Charles and Kuh, Diana and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Lind, Lars and Nievergelt, Caroline M and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Chris J and Oldehinkel, Albertine J and Penninx, Brenda and Reiner, Alexander P and Riese, Harri{\"e}tte and van Roon, Arie M and Rioux, John D and Rotter, Jerome I and Sofer, Tamar and Stricker, Bruno H and Tiemeier, Henning and Vrijkotte, Tanja G M and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Brundel, Bianca J J M and Heckbert, Susan R and Whitsel, Eric A and den Hoed, Marcel and Snieder, Harold and de Geus, Eco J C} } @article {7396, title = {Large-scale analyses of common and rare variants identify 12 new loci associated with atrial fibrillation.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {49}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jun}, pages = {946-952}, abstract = {

Atrial fibrillation affects more than 33 million people worldwide and increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, and death. Fourteen genetic loci have been associated with atrial fibrillation in European and Asian ancestry groups. To further define the genetic basis of atrial fibrillation, we performed large-scale, trans-ancestry meta-analyses of common and rare variant association studies. The genome-wide association studies (GWAS) included 17,931 individuals with atrial fibrillation and 115,142 referents; the exome-wide association studies (ExWAS) and rare variant association studies (RVAS) involved 22,346 cases and 132,086 referents. We identified 12 new genetic loci that exceeded genome-wide significance, implicating genes involved in cardiac electrical and structural remodeling. Our results nearly double the number of known genetic loci for atrial fibrillation, provide insights into the molecular basis of atrial fibrillation, and may facilitate the identification of new potential targets for drug discovery.

}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.3843}, author = {Christophersen, Ingrid E and Rienstra, Michiel and Roselli, Carolina and Yin, Xiaoyan and Geelhoed, Bastiaan and Barnard, John and Lin, Honghuang and Arking, Dan E and Smith, Albert V and Albert, Christine M and Chaffin, Mark and Tucker, Nathan R and Li, Molong and Klarin, Derek and Bihlmeyer, Nathan A and Low, Siew-Kee and Weeke, Peter E and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Smith, J Gustav and Brody, Jennifer A and Niemeijer, Maartje N and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Trompet, Stella and Huffman, Jennifer and Gustafsson, Stefan and Schurmann, Claudia and Kleber, Marcus E and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Sepp{\"a}l{\"a}, Ilkka and Malik, Rainer and Horimoto, Andrea R V R and Perez, Marco and Sinisalo, Juha and Aeschbacher, Stefanie and Th{\'e}riault, S{\'e}bastien and Yao, Jie and Radmanesh, Farid and Weiss, Stefan and Teumer, Alexander and Choi, Seung Hoan and Weng, Lu-Chen and Clauss, Sebastian and Deo, Rajat and Rader, Daniel J and Shah, Svati H and Sun, Albert and Hopewell, Jemma C and Debette, Stephanie and Chauhan, Ganesh and Yang, Qiong and Worrall, Bradford B and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and Kamatani, Yoichiro and Hagemeijer, Yanick P and Verweij, Niek and Siland, Joylene E and Kubo, Michiaki and Smith, Jonathan D and Van Wagoner, David R and Bis, Joshua C and Perz, Siegfried and Psaty, Bruce M and Ridker, Paul M and Magnani, Jared W and Harris, Tamara B and Launer, Lenore J and Shoemaker, M Benjamin and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Haessler, Jeffrey and Bartz, Traci M and Waldenberger, Melanie and Lichtner, Peter and Arendt, Marina and Krieger, Jose E and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Risch, Lorenz and Mansur, Alfredo J and Peters, Annette and Smith, Blair H and Lind, Lars and Scott, Stuart A and Lu, Yingchang and Bottinger, Erwin B and Hernesniemi, Jussi and Lindgren, Cecilia M and Wong, Jorge A and Huang, Jie and Eskola, Markku and Morris, Andrew P and Ford, Ian and Reiner, Alex P and Delgado, Graciela and Chen, Lin Y and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Sandhu, Roopinder K and Li, Man and Boerwinkle, Eric and Eisele, Lewin and Lannfelt, Lars and Rost, Natalia and Anderson, Christopher D and Taylor, Kent D and Campbell, Archie and Magnusson, Patrik K and Porteous, David and Hocking, Lynne J and Vlachopoulou, Efthymia and Pedersen, Nancy L and Nikus, Kjell and Orho-Melander, Marju and Hamsten, Anders and Heeringa, Jan and Denny, Joshua C and Kriebel, Jennifer and Darbar, Dawood and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Shaffer, Christian and Macfarlane, Peter W and Heilmann-Heimbach, Stefanie and Almgren, Peter and Huang, Paul L and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Hofman, Albert and Franco, Oscar H and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and J{\"o}ckel, Karl-Heinz and Sinner, Moritz F and Lin, Henry J and Guo, Xiuqing and Dichgans, Martin and Ingelsson, Erik and Kooperberg, Charles and Melander, Olle and Loos, Ruth J F and Laurikka, Jari and Conen, David and Rosand, Jonathan and van der Harst, Pim and Lokki, Marja-Liisa and Kathiresan, Sekar and Pereira, Alexandre and Jukema, J Wouter and Hayward, Caroline and Rotter, Jerome I and M{\"a}rz, Winfried and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Stricker, Bruno H and Chung, Mina K and Felix, Stephan B and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Alonso, Alvaro and Roden, Dan M and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Chasman, Daniel I and Heckbert, Susan R and Benjamin, Emelia J and Tanaka, Toshihiro and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Lubitz, Steven A and Ellinor, Patrick T} } @article {7678, title = {Association of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A and risk of incident atrial fibrillation: Findings from 3 cohorts.}, journal = {Am Heart J}, volume = {197}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Mar}, pages = {62-69}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Multiple prospective studies have established an association between inflammation and higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), but the association between lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A (Lp-PLA) mass and activity and incident AF has not been extensively evaluated.

METHODS: Using data from 10,794 Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (ARIC) study participants aged 53-75 years, 5,181 Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) participants aged 65 to 100 years, and 5,425 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants aged 45-84 years, we investigated the association between baseline Lp-PLA levels and the risk of developing AF. Incident AF was identified in each cohort by follow-up visit electrocardiograms, hospital discharge coding of AF, or Medicare claims data.

RESULTS: Over a mean of 13.1, 11.5, and 10.0 years of follow-up, 1,439 (13\%), 2,084 (40\%), and 615 (11\%) incident AF events occurred in ARIC, CHS, and MESA, respectively. In adjusted analyses, each SD increment in Lp-PLA activity was associated with incident AF in both ARIC (hazard ratio [HR] 1.13, 95\% CI 1.06-1.20) and MESA (HR 1.24, 95\% CI 1.05-1.46). Each SD increment in Lp-PLA mass was also associated with incident AF in MESA (HR 1.25, 95\% CI 1.11-1.41). No significant associations were observed among CHS participants.

CONCLUSIONS: Although higher Lp-PLA mass and activity were associated with development of AF in ARIC and MESA, this relationship was not observed in CHS, a cohort of older individuals.

}, issn = {1097-6744}, doi = {10.1016/j.ahj.2017.11.010}, author = {Garg, Parveen K and Bartz, Traci M and Norby, Faye L and Jorgensen, Neal W and McClelland, Robyn L and Ballantyne, Christie M and Chen, Lin Y and Gottdiener, John S and Greenland, Philip and Hoogeveen, Ron and Jenny, Nancy S and Kizer, Jorge R and Rosenson, Robert S and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Cushman, Mary and Alonso, Alvaro and Heckbert, Susan R} } @article {7801, title = {Common and Rare Coding Genetic Variation Underlying the Electrocardiographic PR Interval.}, journal = {Circ Genom Precis Med}, volume = {11}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 May}, pages = {e002037}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Electrical conduction from the cardiac sinoatrial node to the ventricles is critical for normal heart function. Genome-wide association studies have identified more than a dozen common genetic loci that are associated with PR interval. However, it is unclear whether rare and low-frequency variants also contribute to PR interval heritability.

METHODS: We performed large-scale meta-analyses of the PR interval that included 83 367 participants of European ancestry and 9436 of African ancestry. We examined both common and rare variants associated with the PR interval.

RESULTS: We identified 31 genetic loci that were significantly associated with PR interval after Bonferroni correction (<1.2{\texttimes}10), including 11 novel loci that have not been reported previously. Many of these loci are involved in heart morphogenesis. In gene-based analysis, we found that multiple rare variants at (=5.9{\texttimes}10) and (=1.1{\texttimes}10) were associated with PR interval. locus also was implicated in the common variant analysis, whereas was a novel locus.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified common variants at 11 novel loci and rare variants within 2 gene regions that were significantly associated with PR interval. Our findings provide novel insights to the current understanding of atrioventricular conduction, which is critical for cardiac activity and an important determinant of health.

}, issn = {2574-8300}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGEN.117.002037}, author = {Lin, Honghuang and van Setten, Jessica and Smith, Albert V and Bihlmeyer, Nathan A and Warren, Helen R and Brody, Jennifer A and Radmanesh, Farid and Hall, Leanne and Grarup, Niels and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Boutin, Thibaud and Verweij, Niek and Lin, Henry J and Li-Gao, Ruifang and van den Berg, Marten E and Marten, Jonathan and Weiss, Stefan and Prins, Bram P and Haessler, Jeffrey and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Mei, Hao and Harris, Tamara B and Launer, Lenore J and Li, Man and Alonso, Alvaro and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Connell, John M and Huang, Paul L and Weng, Lu-Chen and Jameson, Heather S and Hucker, William and Hanley, Alan and Tucker, Nathan R and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Bis, Joshua C and Rice, Kenneth M and Sitlani, Colleen M and Kors, Jan A and Xie, Zhijun and Wen, Chengping and Magnani, Jared W and Nelson, Christopher P and Kanters, J{\o}rgen K and Sinner, Moritz F and Strauch, Konstantin and Peters, Annette and Waldenberger, Melanie and Meitinger, Thomas and Bork-Jensen, Jette and Pedersen, Oluf and Linneberg, Allan and Rudan, Igor and de Boer, Rudolf A and van der Meer, Peter and Yao, Jie and Guo, Xiuqing and Taylor, Kent D and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Rotter, Jerome I and Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O and Trompet, Stella and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Uitterlinden, Andre and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Smith, Blair H and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Felix, Stephan B and Homuth, Georg and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Mangino, Massimo and Spector, Timothy D and Bots, Michiel L and Perez, Marco and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Raitakari, Olli T and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Arking, Dan E and Munroe, Patricia B and Psaty, Bruce M and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Benjamin, Emelia J and Rosand, Jonathan and Samani, Nilesh J and Hansen, Torben and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Polasek, Ozren and van der Harst, Pim and Heckbert, Susan R and Jukema, J Wouter and Stricker, Bruno H and Hayward, Caroline and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Jamshidi, Yalda and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Kooperberg, Charles and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Wilson, James G and Ellinor, Patrick T and Lubitz, Steven A and Isaacs, Aaron} } @article {7802, title = {Common Coding Variants in Are Associated With the Nav1.8 Late Current and Cardiac Conduction.}, journal = {Circ Genom Precis Med}, volume = {11}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 May}, pages = {e001663}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genetic variants at the / locus are strongly associated with electrocardiographic PR and QRS intervals. While is the canonical cardiac sodium channel gene, the role of in cardiac conduction is less well characterized.

METHODS: We sequenced the locus in 3699 European-ancestry individuals to identify variants associated with cardiac conduction, and replicated our findings in 21,000 individuals of European ancestry. We examined association with expression in human atrial tissue. We explored the biophysical effect of variation on channel function using cellular electrophysiology.

RESULTS: We identified 2 intronic single nucleotide polymorphisms in high linkage disequilibrium ( =0.86) with each other to be the strongest signals for PR (rs10428132, β=-4.74, =1.52{\texttimes}10) and QRS intervals (rs6599251, QRS β=-0.73; =1.2{\texttimes}10), respectively. Although these variants were not associated with or expression in human atrial tissue (n=490), they were in high linkage disequilibrium ( >=0.72) with a common missense variant, rs6795970 (V1073A). In total, we identified 7 missense variants, 4 of which (I962V, P1045T, V1073A, and L1092P) were associated with cardiac conduction. These 4 missense variants cluster in the cytoplasmic linker of the second and third domains of the SCN10A protein and together form 6 common haplotypes. Using cellular electrophysiology, we found that haplotypes associated with shorter PR intervals had a significantly larger percentage of late current compared with wild-type (I962V+V1073A+L1092P, 20.2{\textpm}3.3\%, =0.03, and I962V+V1073A, 22.4{\textpm}0.8\%, =0.0004 versus wild-type 11.7{\textpm}1.6\%), and the haplotype associated with the longest PR interval had a significantly smaller late current percentage (P1045T, 6.4{\textpm}1.2\%, =0.03).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest an association between genetic variation in , the late sodium current, and alterations in cardiac conduction.

}, issn = {2574-8300}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGEN.116.001663}, author = {Macri, Vincenzo and Brody, Jennifer A and Arking, Dan E and Hucker, William J and Yin, Xiaoyan and Lin, Honghuang and Mills, Robert W and Sinner, Moritz F and Lubitz, Steven A and Liu, Ching-Ti and Morrison, Alanna C and Alonso, Alvaro and Li, Ning and Fedorov, Vadim V and Janssen, Paul M and Bis, Joshua C and Heckbert, Susan R and Dolmatova, Elena V and Lumley, Thomas and Sitlani, Colleen M and Cupples, L Adrienne and Pulit, Sara L and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Barnard, John and Smith, Jonathan D and Van Wagoner, David R and Chung, Mina K and Vlahakes, Gus J and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Rotter, Jerome I and Margulies, Kenneth B and Morley, Michael P and Cappola, Thomas P and Benjamin, Emelia J and Muzny, Donna and Gibbs, Richard A and Jackson, Rebecca D and Magnani, Jared W and Herndon, Caroline N and Rich, Stephen S and Psaty, Bruce M and Milan, David J and Boerwinkle, Eric and Mohler, Peter J and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Ellinor, Patrick T} } @article {7809, title = {Exome-chip meta-analysis identifies novel loci associated with cardiac conduction, including ADAMTS6.}, journal = {Genome Biol}, volume = {19}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 07 17}, pages = {87}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies conducted on QRS duration, an electrocardiographic measurement associated with heart failure and sudden cardiac death, have led to novel biological insights into cardiac function. However, the variants identified fall predominantly in non-coding regions and their underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

RESULTS: Here, we identify putative functional coding variation associated with changes in the QRS interval duration by combining Illumina HumanExome BeadChip genotype data from 77,898 participants of European ancestry and 7695 of African descent in our discovery cohort, followed by replication in 111,874~individuals of European ancestry from the UK Biobank and deCODE cohorts. We identify ten novel loci, seven within coding regions, including ADAMTS6, significantly associated with QRS duration in gene-based analyses. ADAMTS6 encodes a secreted metalloprotease of currently unknown function. In vitro validation analysis shows that the QRS-associated variants lead to impaired ADAMTS6 secretion and loss-of function analysis in mice demonstrates a previously unappreciated role for ADAMTS6 in connexin 43 gap junction expression, which is essential for myocardial conduction.

CONCLUSIONS: Our approach identifies novel coding and non-coding variants underlying ventricular depolarization and provides a possible mechanism for the ADAMTS6-associated conduction changes.

}, issn = {1474-760X}, doi = {10.1186/s13059-018-1457-6}, author = {Prins, Bram P and Mead, Timothy J and Brody, Jennifer A and Sveinbjornsson, Gardar and Ntalla, Ioanna and Bihlmeyer, Nathan A and van den Berg, Marten and Bork-Jensen, Jette and Cappellani, Stefania and Van Duijvenboden, Stefan and Klena, Nikolai T and Gabriel, George C and Liu, Xiaoqin and Gulec, Cagri and Grarup, Niels and Haessler, Jeffrey and Hall, Leanne M and Iorio, Annamaria and Isaacs, Aaron and Li-Gao, Ruifang and Lin, Honghuang and Liu, Ching-Ti and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Marten, Jonathan and Mei, Hao and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Orini, Michele and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Radmanesh, Farid and Ramirez, Julia and Robino, Antonietta and Schwartz, Molly and van Setten, Jessica and Smith, Albert V and Verweij, Niek and Warren, Helen R and Weiss, Stefan and Alonso, Alvaro and Arnar, David O and Bots, Michiel L and de Boer, Rudolf A and Dominiczak, Anna F and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Ellinor, Patrick T and Guo, Xiuqing and Felix, Stephan B and Harris, Tamara B and Hayward, Caroline and Heckbert, Susan R and Huang, Paul L and Jukema, J W and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Kors, Jan A and Lambiase, Pier D and Launer, Lenore J and Li, Man and Linneberg, Allan and Nelson, Christopher P and Pedersen, Oluf and Perez, Marco and Peters, Annette and Polasek, Ozren and Psaty, Bruce M and Raitakari, Olli T and Rice, Kenneth M and Rotter, Jerome I and Sinner, Moritz F and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Spector, Tim D and Strauch, Konstantin and Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur and Tinker, Andrew and Trompet, Stella and Uitterlinden, Andre and Vaartjes, Ilonca and van der Meer, Peter and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Waldenberger, Melanie and Wilson, James G and Xie, Zhijun and Asselbergs, Folkert W and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Gasparini, Paolo and Gudbjartsson, Daniel F and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Hansen, Torben and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Kanters, J{\o}rgen K and Kooperberg, Charles and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Lin, Henry J and Lubitz, Steven A and Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O and Conti, Francesco J and Newton-Cheh, Christopher H and Rosand, Jonathan and Rudan, Igor and Samani, Nilesh J and Sinagra, Gianfranco and Smith, Blair H and Holm, Hilma and Stricker, Bruno H and Ulivi, Sheila and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Apte, Suneel S and van der Harst, Pim and Stefansson, Kari and Munroe, Patricia B and Arking, Dan E and Lo, Cecilia W and Jamshidi, Yalda} } @article {7784, title = {ExomeChip-Wide Analysis of 95 626 Individuals Identifies 10 Novel Loci Associated With QT and JT Intervals.}, journal = {Circ Genom Precis Med}, volume = {11}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Jan}, pages = {e001758}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: QT interval, measured through a standard ECG, captures the time it takes for the cardiac ventricles to depolarize and repolarize. JT interval is the component of the QT interval that reflects ventricular repolarization alone. Prolonged QT interval has been linked to higher risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed an ExomeChip-wide analysis for both QT and JT intervals, including 209 449 variants, both common and rare, in 17 341 genes from the Illumina Infinium HumanExome BeadChip. We identified 10 loci that modulate QT and JT interval duration that have not been previously reported in the literature using single-variant statistical models in a meta-analysis of 95 626 individuals from 23 cohorts (comprised 83 884 European ancestry individuals, 9610 blacks, 1382 Hispanics, and 750 Asians). This brings the total number of ventricular repolarization associated loci to 45. In addition, our approach of using coding variants has highlighted the role of 17 specific genes for involvement in ventricular repolarization, 7 of which are in novel loci.

CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses show a role for myocyte internal structure and interconnections in modulating QT interval duration, adding to previous known roles of potassium, sodium, and calcium ion regulation, as well as autonomic control. We anticipate that these discoveries will open new paths to the goal of making novel remedies for the prevention of lethal ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest.

}, issn = {2574-8300}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGEN.117.001758}, author = {Bihlmeyer, Nathan A and Brody, Jennifer A and Smith, Albert Vernon and Warren, Helen R and Lin, Honghuang and Isaacs, Aaron and Liu, Ching-Ti and Marten, Jonathan and Radmanesh, Farid and Hall, Leanne M and Grarup, Niels and Mei, Hao and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Huffman, Jennifer E and Verweij, Niek and Guo, Xiuqing and Yao, Jie and Li-Gao, Ruifang and van den Berg, Marten and Weiss, Stefan and Prins, Bram P and van Setten, Jessica and Haessler, Jeffrey and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Li, Man and Alonso, Alvaro and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Bis, Joshua C and Austin, Tom and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Psaty, Bruce M and Harrris, Tamara B and Launer, Lenore J and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Dominiczak, Anna and Huang, Paul L and Xie, Zhijun and Ellinor, Patrick T and Kors, Jan A and Campbell, Archie and Murray, Alison D and Nelson, Christopher P and Tobin, Martin D and Bork-Jensen, Jette and Hansen, Torben and Pedersen, Oluf and Linneberg, Allan and Sinner, Moritz F and Peters, Annette and Waldenberger, Melanie and Meitinger, Thomas and Perz, Siegfried and Kolcic, Ivana and Rudan, Igor and de Boer, Rudolf A and van der Meer, Peter and Lin, Henry J and Taylor, Kent D and de Mutsert, Ren{\'e}e and Trompet, Stella and Jukema, J Wouter and Maan, Arie C and Stricker, Bruno H C and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Uitterlinden, Andre and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Homuth, Georg and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Felix, Stephan B and Mangino, Massimo and Spector, Timothy D and Bots, Michiel L and Perez, Marco and Raitakari, Olli T and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Mononen, Nina and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Munroe, Patricia B and Lubitz, Steven A and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Newton-Cheh, Christopher H and Hayward, Caroline and Rosand, Jonathan and Samani, Nilesh J and Kanters, J{\o}rgen K and Wilson, James G and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Polasek, Ozren and van der Harst, Pim and Heckbert, Susan R and Rotter, Jerome I and Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O and Eijgelsheim, Mark and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Jamshidi, Yalda and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Kooperberg, Charles and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Arking, Dan E and Sotoodehnia, Nona} } @article {7811, title = {Multi-ethnic genome-wide association study for atrial fibrillation.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {50}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Sep}, pages = {1225-1233}, abstract = {

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects more than 33 million individuals worldwide and has a complex heritability. We conducted the largest meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for AF to date, consisting of more than half a million individuals, including 65,446 with AF. In total, we identified 97 loci significantly associated with AF, including 67 that were novel in a combined-ancestry analysis, and 3 that were novel in a European-specific analysis. We sought to identify AF-associated genes at the GWAS loci by performing RNA-sequencing and expression quantitative trait locus analyses in 101 left atrial samples, the most relevant tissue for AF. We also performed transcriptome-wide analyses that identified 57 AF-associated genes, 42 of which overlap with GWAS loci. The identified loci implicate genes enriched within cardiac developmental, electrophysiological, contractile and structural pathways. These results extend our understanding of the biological pathways underlying AF and may facilitate the development of therapeutics for AF.

}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/s41588-018-0133-9}, author = {Roselli, Carolina and Chaffin, Mark D and Weng, Lu-Chen and Aeschbacher, Stefanie and Ahlberg, Gustav and Albert, Christine M and Almgren, Peter and Alonso, Alvaro and Anderson, Christopher D and Aragam, Krishna G and Arking, Dan E and Barnard, John and Bartz, Traci M and Benjamin, Emelia J and Bihlmeyer, Nathan A and Bis, Joshua C and Bloom, Heather L and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bottinger, Erwin B and Brody, Jennifer A and Calkins, Hugh and Campbell, Archie and Cappola, Thomas P and Carlquist, John and Chasman, Daniel I and Chen, Lin Y and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Choi, Eue-Keun and Choi, Seung Hoan and Christophersen, Ingrid E and Chung, Mina K and Cole, John W and Conen, David and Cook, James and Crijns, Harry J and Cutler, Michael J and Damrauer, Scott M and Daniels, Brian R and Darbar, Dawood and Delgado, Graciela and Denny, Joshua C and Dichgans, Martin and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Dudink, Elton A and Dudley, Samuel C and Esa, Nada and Esko, T{\~o}nu and Eskola, Markku and Fatkin, Diane and Felix, Stephan B and Ford, Ian and Franco, Oscar H and Geelhoed, Bastiaan and Grewal, Raji P and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Guo, Xiuqing and Gupta, Namrata and Gustafsson, Stefan and Gutmann, Rebecca and Hamsten, Anders and Harris, Tamara B and Hayward, Caroline and Heckbert, Susan R and Hernesniemi, Jussi and Hocking, Lynne J and Hofman, Albert and Horimoto, Andrea R V R and Huang, Jie and Huang, Paul L and Huffman, Jennifer and Ingelsson, Erik and Ipek, Esra Gucuk and Ito, Kaoru and Jimenez-Conde, Jordi and Johnson, Renee and Jukema, J Wouter and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Kamatani, Yoichiro and Kane, John P and Kastrati, Adnan and Kathiresan, Sekar and Katschnig-Winter, Petra and Kavousi, Maryam and Kessler, Thorsten and Kietselaer, Bas L and Kirchhof, Paulus and Kleber, Marcus E and Knight, Stacey and Krieger, Jose E and Kubo, Michiaki and Launer, Lenore J and Laurikka, Jari and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Leineweber, Kirsten and Lemaitre, Rozenn N and Li, Man and Lim, Hong Euy and Lin, Henry J and Lin, Honghuang and Lind, Lars and Lindgren, Cecilia M and Lokki, Marja-Liisa and London, Barry and Loos, Ruth J F and Low, Siew-Kee and Lu, Yingchang and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Macfarlane, Peter W and Magnusson, Patrik K and Mahajan, Anubha and Malik, Rainer and Mansur, Alfredo J and Marcus, Gregory M and Margolin, Lauren and Margulies, Kenneth B and M{\"a}rz, Winfried and McManus, David D and Melander, Olle and Mohanty, Sanghamitra and Montgomery, Jay A and Morley, Michael P and Morris, Andrew P and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Natale, Andrea and Nazarian, Saman and Neumann, Benjamin and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and Niemeijer, Maartje N and Nikus, Kjell and Nilsson, Peter and Noordam, Raymond and Oellers, Heidi and Olesen, Morten S and Orho-Melander, Marju and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Pak, Hui-Nam and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and Pedersen, Nancy L and Pera, Joanna and Pereira, Alexandre and Porteous, David and Psaty, Bruce M and Pulit, Sara L and Pullinger, Clive R and Rader, Daniel J and Refsgaard, Lena and Ribas{\'e}s, Marta and Ridker, Paul M and Rienstra, Michiel and Risch, Lorenz and Roden, Dan M and Rosand, Jonathan and Rosenberg, Michael A and Rost, Natalia and Rotter, Jerome I and Saba, Samir and Sandhu, Roopinder K and Schnabel, Renate B and Schramm, Katharina and Schunkert, Heribert and Schurman, Claudia and Scott, Stuart A and Sepp{\"a}l{\"a}, Ilkka and Shaffer, Christian and Shah, Svati and Shalaby, Alaa A and Shim, Jaemin and Shoemaker, M Benjamin and Siland, Joylene E and Sinisalo, Juha and Sinner, Moritz F and Slowik, Agnieszka and Smith, Albert V and Smith, Blair H and Smith, J Gustav and Smith, Jonathan D and Smith, Nicholas L and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Stricker, Bruno H and Sun, Albert and Sun, Han and Svendsen, Jesper H and Tanaka, Toshihiro and Tanriverdi, Kahraman and Taylor, Kent D and Teder-Laving, Maris and Teumer, Alexander and Th{\'e}riault, S{\'e}bastien and Trompet, Stella and Tucker, Nathan R and Tveit, Arnljot and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van der Harst, Pim and Van Gelder, Isabelle C and Van Wagoner, David R and Verweij, Niek and Vlachopoulou, Efthymia and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Wang, Biqi and Weeke, Peter E and Weijs, Bob and Weiss, Raul and Weiss, Stefan and Wells, Quinn S and Wiggins, Kerri L and Wong, Jorge A and Woo, Daniel and Worrall, Bradford B and Yang, Pil-Sung and Yao, Jie and Yoneda, Zachary T and Zeller, Tanja and Zeng, Lingyao and Lubitz, Steven A and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Ellinor, Patrick T} } @article {7815, title = {PR interval genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 50 loci associated with atrial and atrioventricular electrical activity.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {9}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Jul 25}, pages = {2904}, abstract = {

Electrocardiographic PR interval measures atrio-ventricular depolarization and conduction, and abnormal PR interval is a risk factor for atrial fibrillation and heart block. Our genome-wide association study of over 92,000 European-descent individuals identifies 44 PR interval loci (34 novel). Examination of these loci reveals known and previously not-yet-reported biological processes involved in cardiac atrial electrical activity. Genes in these loci are over-represented in cardiac disease processes including heart block and atrial fibrillation. Variants in over half of the 44 loci were associated with atrial or blood transcript expression levels, or were in high linkage disequilibrium with missense variants. Six additional loci were identified either by meta-analysis of ~105,000 African and European-descent individuals and/or by pleiotropic analyses combining PR interval with heart rate, QRS interval, and atrial fibrillation. These findings implicate developmental pathways, and identify transcription factors, ion-channel genes, and cell-junction/cell-signaling proteins in atrio-ventricular conduction, identifying potential targets for drug development.

}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-04766-9}, author = {van Setten, Jessica and Brody, Jennifer A and Jamshidi, Yalda and Swenson, Brenton R and Butler, Anne M and Campbell, Harry and Del Greco, Fabiola M and Evans, Daniel S and Gibson, Quince and Gudbjartsson, Daniel F and Kerr, Kathleen F and Krijthe, Bouwe P and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and M{\"u}ller, Christian and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Nolte, Ilja M and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Ritchie, Marylyn D and Robino, Antonietta and Smith, Albert V and Steri, Maristella and Tanaka, Toshiko and Teumer, Alexander and Trompet, Stella and Ulivi, Sheila and Verweij, Niek and Yin, Xiaoyan and Arnar, David O and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Bader, Joel S and Barnard, John and Bis, Josh and Blankenberg, Stefan and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bradford, Yuki and Buckley, Brendan M and Chung, Mina K and Crawford, Dana and den Hoed, Marcel and Denny, Josh C and Dominiczak, Anna F and Ehret, Georg B and Eijgelsheim, Mark and Ellinor, Patrick T and Felix, Stephan B and Franco, Oscar H and Franke, Lude and Harris, Tamara B and Holm, Hilma and Ilaria, Gandin and Iorio, Annamaria and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Kolcic, Ivana and Kors, Jan A and Lakatta, Edward G and Launer, Lenore J and Lin, Honghuang and Lin, Henry J and Loos, Ruth J F and Lubitz, Steven A and Macfarlane, Peter W and Magnani, Jared W and Leach, Irene Mateo and Meitinger, Thomas and Mitchell, Braxton D and M{\"u}nzel, Thomas and Papanicolaou, George J and Peters, Annette and Pfeufer, Arne and Pramstaller, Peter P and Raitakari, Olli T and Rotter, Jerome I and Rudan, Igor and Samani, Nilesh J and Schlessinger, David and Silva Aldana, Claudia T and Sinner, Moritz F and Smith, Jonathan D and Snieder, Harold and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Spector, Timothy D and Stott, David J and Strauch, Konstantin and Tarasov, Kirill V and Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Van Wagoner, David R and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Waldenberger, Melanie and Jan Westra, Harm and Wild, Philipp S and Zeller, Tanja and Alonso, Alvaro and Avery, Christy L and Bandinelli, Stefania and Benjamin, Emelia J and Cucca, Francesco and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Ferrucci, Luigi and Gasparini, Paolo and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Hayward, Caroline and Heckbert, Susan R and Hicks, Andrew A and Jukema, J Wouter and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Liu, Yongmei and Munroe, Patricia B and Parsa, Afshin and Polasek, Ozren and Psaty, Bruce M and Roden, Dan M and Schnabel, Renate B and Sinagra, Gianfranco and Stefansson, Kari and Stricker, Bruno H and van der Harst, Pim and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Wilson, James F and Gharib, Sina A and de Bakker, Paul I W and Isaacs, Aaron and Arking, Dan E and Sotoodehnia, Nona} } @article {7973, title = {Assessment of the Relationship Between Genetic Determinants of Thyroid Function and Atrial Fibrillation: A Mendelian Randomization Study.}, journal = {JAMA Cardiol}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Jan 23}, abstract = {

Importance: Increased free thyroxine (FT4) and decreased thyrotropin are associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) in observational studies, but direct involvement is unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the potential direct involvement of thyroid traits on AF.

Design, Setting, and Participants: Study-level mendelian randomization (MR) included 11 studies, and summary-level MR included 55 114 AF cases and 482 295 referents, all of European ancestry.

Exposures: Genomewide significant variants were used as instruments for standardized FT4 and thyrotropin levels within the reference range, standardized triiodothyronine (FT3):FT4 ratio, hypothyroidism, standardized thyroid peroxidase antibody levels, and hyperthyroidism. Mendelian randomization used genetic risk scores in study-level analysis or individual single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 2-sample MR for the summary-level data.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Prevalent and incident AF.

Results: The study-level analysis included 7679 individuals with AF and 49 233 referents (mean age [standard error], 62 [3] years; 15 859 men [29.7\%]). In study-level random-effects meta-analysis, the pooled hazard ratio of FT4 levels (nanograms per deciliter) for incident AF was 1.55 (95\% CI, 1.09-2.20; P = .02; I2 = 76\%) and the pooled odds ratio (OR) for prevalent AF was 2.80 (95\% CI, 1.41-5.54; P = .003; I2 = 64\%) in multivariable-adjusted analyses. The FT4 genetic risk score was associated with an increase in FT4 by 0.082 SD (standard error, 0.007; P < .001) but not with incident AF (risk ratio, 0.84; 95\% CI, 0.62-1.14; P = .27) or prevalent AF (OR, 1.32; 95\% CI, 0.64-2.73; P = .46). Similarly, in summary-level inverse-variance weighted random-effects MR, gene-based FT4 within the reference range was not associated with AF (OR, 1.01; 95\% CI, 0.89-1.14; P = .88). However, gene-based increased FT3:FT4 ratio, increased thyrotropin within the reference range, and hypothyroidism were associated with AF with inverse-variance weighted random-effects OR of 1.33 (95\% CI, 1.08-1.63; P = .006), 0.88 (95\% CI, 0.84-0.92; P < .001), and 0.94 (95\% CI, 0.90-0.99; P = .009), respectively, and robust to tests of horizontal pleiotropy. However, the subset of hypothyroidism single-nucleotide polymorphisms involved in autoimmunity and thyroid peroxidase antibodies levels were not associated with AF. Gene-based hyperthyroidism was associated with AF with MR-Egger OR of 1.31 (95\% CI, 1.05-1.63; P = .02) with evidence of horizontal pleiotropy (P = .045).

Conclusions and Relevance: Genetically increased FT3:FT4 ratio and hyperthyroidism, but not FT4 within the reference range, were associated with increased AF, and increased thyrotropin within the reference range and hypothyroidism were associated with decreased AF, supporting a pathway involving the pituitary-thyroid-cardiac axis.

}, issn = {2380-6591}, doi = {10.1001/jamacardio.2018.4635}, author = {Ellervik, Christina and Roselli, Carolina and Christophersen, Ingrid E and Alonso, Alvaro and Pietzner, Maik and Sitlani, Collen M and Trompet, Stella and Arking, Dan E and Geelhoed, Bastiaan and Guo, Xiuqing and Kleber, Marcus E and Lin, Henry J and Lin, Honghuang and Macfarlane, Peter and Selvin, Elizabeth and Shaffer, Christian and Smith, Albert V and Verweij, Niek and Weiss, Stefan and Cappola, Anne R and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Heckbert, Susan and Mooijaart, Simon and M{\"a}rz, Winfried and Psaty, Bruce M and Ridker, Paul M and Roden, Dan and Stott, David J and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Benjamin, Emelia J and Delgado, Graciela and Ellinor, Patrick and Homuth, Georg and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Jukema, Johan W and Lubitz, Steven A and Mora, Samia and Rienstra, Michiel and Rotter, Jerome I and Shoemaker, M Benjamin and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Taylor, Kent D and van der Harst, Pim and Albert, Christine M and Chasman, Daniel I} } @article {8008, title = {NT -pro BNP as a Mediator of the Racial Difference in Incident Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure.}, journal = {J Am Heart Assoc}, volume = {8}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Apr 02}, pages = {e010868}, abstract = {

Background Blacks harbor more cardiovascular risk factors than whites, but experience less atrial fibrillation ( AF ). Conversely, whites may have a lower risk of heart failure ( CHF ). N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide ( NT -pro BNP) levels are higher in whites, predict incident AF , and have diuretic effects in the setting of increased ventricular diastolic pressures, potentially providing a unifying explanation for these racial differences. Methods and Results We used data from the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study) to determine the degree to which baseline NT -pro BNP levels mediate the relationships between race and incident AF and CHF by comparing beta estimates between models with and without NT -pro BNP . The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study was used to assess reproducibility. Among 4731 CHS (770 black) and 12~418 ARIC (3091 black) participants, there were 1277 and 1253 incident AF events, respectively. Whites had higher baseline NT -pro BNP ( CHS : 40\% higher than blacks; 95\% CI , 29-53; ARIC : 39\% higher; 95\% CI , 33-46) and had a greater risk of incident AF compared with blacks ( CHS : adjusted hazard ratio, 1.60; 95\% CI , 1.31-1.93; ARIC : hazard ratio, 1.93; 95\% CI , 1.57-2.27). NT -pro BNP levels explained a significant proportion of the racial difference in AF risk ( CHS : 36.2\%; 95\% CI , 23.2-69.2\%; ARIC : 24.6\%; 95\% CI , 14.8-39.6\%). Contrary to our hypothesis, given an increased risk of CHF among whites in CHS (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.20; 95\% CI , 1.05-1.47) and the absence of a significant association between race and CHF in ARIC (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.07; 95\% CI , 0.94-1.23), CHF -related mediation analyses were not performed. Conclusions A substantial portion of the relationship between race and AF was statistically explained by baseline NT -pro BNP levels. No consistent relationship between race and CHF was observed.

}, issn = {2047-9980}, doi = {10.1161/JAHA.118.010868}, author = {Whitman, Isaac R and Vittinghoff, Eric and deFilippi, Christopher R and Gottdiener, John S and Alonso, Alvaro and Psaty, Bruce M and Heckbert, Susan R and Hoogeveen, Ron C and Arking, Dan E and Selvin, Elizabeth and Chen, Lin Y and Dewland, Thomas A and Marcus, Gregory M} } @article {8368, title = {Multi-ancestry GWAS of the electrocardiographic PR interval identifies 202 loci underlying cardiac conduction.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {11}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 May 21}, pages = {2542}, abstract = {

The electrocardiographic PR interval reflects atrioventricular conduction, and is associated with conduction abnormalities, pacemaker implantation, atrial fibrillation (AF), and cardiovascular mortality. Here we report a multi-ancestry (N = 293,051) genome-wide association meta-analysis for the PR interval, discovering 202 loci of which 141 have not previously been reported. Variants at identified loci increase the percentage of heritability explained, from 33.5\% to 62.6\%. We observe enrichment for cardiac muscle developmental/contractile and cytoskeletal genes, highlighting key regulation processes for atrioventricular conduction. Additionally, 8 loci not previously reported harbor genes underlying inherited arrhythmic syndromes and/or cardiomyopathies suggesting a role for these genes in cardiovascular pathology in the general population. We show that polygenic predisposition to PR interval duration is an endophenotype for cardiovascular disease, including distal conduction disease, AF, and atrioventricular pre-excitation. These findings advance our understanding of the polygenic basis of cardiac conduction, and the genetic relationship between PR interval duration and cardiovascular disease.

}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-15706-x}, author = {Ntalla, Ioanna and Weng, Lu-Chen and Cartwright, James H and Hall, Amelia Weber and Sveinbjornsson, Gardar and Tucker, Nathan R and Choi, Seung Hoan and Chaffin, Mark D and Roselli, Carolina and Barnes, Michael R and Mifsud, Borbala and Warren, Helen R and Hayward, Caroline and Marten, Jonathan and Cranley, James J and Concas, Maria Pina and Gasparini, Paolo and Boutin, Thibaud and Kolcic, Ivana and Polasek, Ozren and Rudan, Igor and Araujo, Nathalia M and Lima-Costa, Maria Fernanda and Ribeiro, Antonio Luiz P and Souza, Renan P and Tarazona-Santos, Eduardo and Giedraitis, Vilmantas and Ingelsson, Erik and Mahajan, Anubha and Morris, Andrew P and del Greco M, Fabiola and Foco, Luisa and G{\"o}gele, Martin and Hicks, Andrew A and Cook, James P and Lind, Lars and Lindgren, Cecilia M and Sundstr{\"o}m, Johan and Nelson, Christopher P and Riaz, Muhammad B and Samani, Nilesh J and Sinagra, Gianfranco and Ulivi, Sheila and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Mishra, Pashupati P and Mononen, Nina and Nikus, Kjell and Caulfield, Mark J and Dominiczak, Anna and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Montasser, May E and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeff R and Ryan, Kathleen and Shuldiner, Alan R and Aeschbacher, Stefanie and Conen, David and Risch, Lorenz and Th{\'e}riault, S{\'e}bastien and Hutri-K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Nina and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Lyytik{\"a}inen, Leo-Pekka and Raitakari, Olli T and Barnes, Catriona L K and Campbell, Harry and Joshi, Peter K and Wilson, James F and Isaacs, Aaron and Kors, Jan A and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Huang, Paul L and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Harris, Tamara B and Launer, Lenore J and Smith, Albert V and Bottinger, Erwin P and Loos, Ruth J F and Nadkarni, Girish N and Preuss, Michael H and Correa, Adolfo and Mei, Hao and Wilson, James and Meitinger, Thomas and M{\"u}ller-Nurasyid, Martina and Peters, Annette and Waldenberger, Melanie and Mangino, Massimo and Spector, Timothy D and Rienstra, Michiel and van de Vegte, Yordi J and van der Harst, Pim and Verweij, Niek and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Schramm, Katharina and Sinner, Moritz F and Strauch, Konstantin and Cutler, Michael J and Fatkin, Diane and London, Barry and Olesen, Morten and Roden, Dan M and Benjamin Shoemaker, M and Gustav Smith, J and Biggs, Mary L and Bis, Joshua C and Brody, Jennifer A and Psaty, Bruce M and Rice, Kenneth and Sotoodehnia, Nona and De Grandi, Alessandro and Fuchsberger, Christian and Pattaro, Cristian and Pramstaller, Peter P and Ford, Ian and Wouter Jukema, J and Macfarlane, Peter W and Trompet, Stella and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Felix, Stephan B and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Weiss, Stefan and Havulinna, Aki S and Jula, Antti and S{\"a}{\"a}ksj{\"a}rvi, Katri and Salomaa, Veikko and Guo, Xiuqing and Heckbert, Susan R and Lin, Henry J and Rotter, Jerome I and Taylor, Kent D and Yao, Jie and de Mutsert, Ren{\'e}e and Maan, Arie C and Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O and Noordam, Raymond and Cucca, Francesco and Ding, Jun and Lakatta, Edward G and Qian, Yong and Tarasov, Kirill V and Levy, Daniel and Lin, Honghuang and Newton-Cheh, Christopher H and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Murray, Alison D and Porteous, David J and Smith, Blair H and Stricker, Bruno H and Uitterlinden, Andre and van den Berg, Marten E and Haessler, Jeffrey and Jackson, Rebecca D and Kooperberg, Charles and Peters, Ulrike and Reiner, Alexander P and Whitsel, Eric A and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and Boerwinkle, Eric and Ehret, Georg B and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Avery, Christy L and Gogarten, Stephanie M and Kerr, Kathleen F and Laurie, Cathy C and Seyerle, Amanda A and Stilp, Adrienne and Assa, Solmaz and Abdullah Said, M and Yldau van der Ende, M and Lambiase, Pier D and Orini, Michele and Ramirez, Julia and Van Duijvenboden, Stefan and Arnar, David O and Gudbjartsson, Daniel F and Holm, Hilma and Sulem, Patrick and Thorleifsson, Gudmar and Thorolfsdottir, Rosa B and Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur and Benjamin, Emelia J and Tinker, Andrew and Stefansson, Kari and Ellinor, Patrick T and Jamshidi, Yalda and Lubitz, Steven A and Munroe, Patricia B} } @article {9001, title = {Epigenetic Age and the Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation.}, journal = {Circulation}, volume = {144}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 12 14}, pages = {1899-1911}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The most prominent risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF) is chronological age; however, underlying mechanisms are unexplained. Algorithms using epigenetic modifications to the human genome effectively predict chronological age. Chronological and epigenetic predicted ages may diverge in a phenomenon referred to as epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), which may reflect accelerated biological aging. We sought to evaluate for associations between epigenetic age measures and incident AF.

METHODS: Measures for 4 epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum, DNA methylation [DNAm] PhenoAge, and DNAm GrimAge) and an epigenetic predictor of PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) levels (ie, DNAm PAI-1) were determined for study participants from 3 population-based cohort studies. Cox models evaluated for associations with incident AF and results were combined via random-effects meta-analyses. Two-sample summary-level Mendelian randomization analyses evaluated for associations between genetic instruments of the EAA measures and AF.

RESULTS: Among 5600 participants (mean age, 65.5 years; female, 60.1\%; Black, 50.7\%), there were 905 incident AF cases during a mean follow-up of 12.9 years. Unadjusted analyses revealed all 4 epigenetic clocks and the DNAm PAI-1 predictor were associated with statistically significant higher hazards of incident AF, though the magnitudes of their point estimates were smaller relative to the associations observed for chronological age. The pooled EAA estimates for each epigenetic measure, with the exception of Horvath EAA, were associated with incident AF in models adjusted for chronological age, race, sex, and smoking variables. After multivariable adjustment for additional known AF risk factors that could also potentially function as mediators, pooled EAA measures for 2 clocks remained statistically significant. Five-year increases in EAA measures for DNAm GrimAge and DNAm PhenoAge were associated with 19\% (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.19 [95\% CI, 1.09-1.31]; <0.01) and 15\% (adjusted HR, 1.15 [95\% CI, 1.05-1.25]; <0.01) higher hazards of incident AF, respectively. Mendelian randomization analyses for the 5 EAA measures did not reveal statistically significant associations with AF.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified adjusted associations between EAA measures and incident AF, suggesting that biological aging plays an important role independent of chronological age, though a potential underlying causal relationship remains unclear. These aging processes may be modifiable and not constrained by the immutable factor of time.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aging, Atrial Fibrillation, DNA Methylation, Epigenesis, Genetic, Epigenomics, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Incidence, Male, Mendelian Randomization Analysis, Middle Aged, Models, Cardiovascular, Models, Genetic}, issn = {1524-4539}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.056456}, author = {Roberts, Jason D and Vittinghoff, Eric and Lu, Ake T and Alonso, Alvaro and Wang, Biqi and Sitlani, Colleen M and Mohammadi-Shemirani, Pedrum and Fornage, Myriam and Kornej, Jelena and Brody, Jennifer A and Arking, Dan E and Lin, Honghuang and Heckbert, Susan R and Prokic, Ivana and Ghanbari, Mohsen and Skanes, Allan C and Bartz, Traci M and Perez, Marco V and Taylor, Kent D and Lubitz, Steven A and Ellinor, Patrick T and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Pankow, James S and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Benjamin, Emelia J and Horvath, Steve and Marcus, Gregory M} } @article {8666, title = {Sequencing of 53,831 diverse genomes from the NHLBI TOPMed Program.}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {590}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 02}, pages = {290-299}, abstract = {

The Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) programme seeks to elucidate the genetic architecture and biology of heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders, with the ultimate goal of improving diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these diseases. The initial phases of the programme focused on whole-genome sequencing of individuals with rich phenotypic data and diverse backgrounds. Here we describe the TOPMed goals and design as well as the available resources and early insights obtained from the sequence data. The resources include a variant browser, a genotype imputation server, and genomic and phenotypic data that are available through dbGaP (Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes). In the first 53,831 TOPMed samples, we detected more than 400~million single-nucleotide and insertion or deletion variants after alignment with the reference genome. Additional previously undescribed variants were detected through assembly of unmapped reads and customized analysis in highly variable loci. Among the more than 400~million detected variants, 97\% have frequencies of less than 1\% and 46\% are singletons that are present in only one individual (53\% among unrelated individuals). These rare variants provide insights into mutational processes and recent human evolutionary history. The extensive catalogue of genetic variation in TOPMed studies provides unique opportunities for exploring the contributions of rare and noncoding sequence variants to phenotypic variation. Furthermore, combining TOPMed haplotypes with modern imputation methods improves the power and reach of genome-wide association studies to include variants down to a frequency of approximately 0.01\%.

}, issn = {1476-4687}, doi = {10.1038/s41586-021-03205-y}, author = {Taliun, Daniel and Harris, Daniel N and Kessler, Michael D and Carlson, Jedidiah and Szpiech, Zachary A and Torres, Raul and Taliun, Sarah A Gagliano and Corvelo, Andr{\'e} and Gogarten, Stephanie M and Kang, Hyun Min and Pitsillides, Achilleas N and LeFaive, Jonathon and Lee, Seung-Been and Tian, Xiaowen and Browning, Brian L and Das, Sayantan and Emde, Anne-Katrin and Clarke, Wayne E and Loesch, Douglas P and Shetty, Amol C and Blackwell, Thomas W and Smith, Albert V and Wong, Quenna and Liu, Xiaoming and Conomos, Matthew P and Bobo, Dean M and Aguet, Francois and Albert, Christine and Alonso, Alvaro and Ardlie, Kristin G and Arking, Dan E and Aslibekyan, Stella and Auer, Paul L and Barnard, John and Barr, R Graham and Barwick, Lucas and Becker, Lewis C and Beer, Rebecca L and Benjamin, Emelia J and Bielak, Lawrence F and Blangero, John and Boehnke, Michael and Bowden, Donald W and Brody, Jennifer A and Burchard, Esteban G and Cade, Brian E and Casella, James F and Chalazan, Brandon and Chasman, Daniel I and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Cho, Michael H and Choi, Seung Hoan and Chung, Mina K and Clish, Clary B and Correa, Adolfo and Curran, Joanne E and Custer, Brian and Darbar, Dawood and Daya, Michelle and de Andrade, Mariza and DeMeo, Dawn L and Dutcher, Susan K and Ellinor, Patrick T and Emery, Leslie S and Eng, Celeste and Fatkin, Diane and Fingerlin, Tasha and Forer, Lukas and Fornage, Myriam and Franceschini, Nora and Fuchsberger, Christian and Fullerton, Stephanie M and Germer, Soren and Gladwin, Mark T and Gottlieb, Daniel J and Guo, Xiuqing and Hall, Michael E and He, Jiang and Heard-Costa, Nancy L and Heckbert, Susan R and Irvin, Marguerite R and Johnsen, Jill M and Johnson, Andrew D and Kaplan, Robert and Kardia, Sharon L R and Kelly, Tanika and Kelly, Shannon and Kenny, Eimear E and Kiel, Douglas P and Klemmer, Robert and Konkle, Barbara A and Kooperberg, Charles and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Lange, Leslie A and Lasky-Su, Jessica and Levy, Daniel and Lin, Xihong and Lin, Keng-Han and Liu, Chunyu and Loos, Ruth J F and Garman, Lori and Gerszten, Robert and Lubitz, Steven A and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Mak, Angel C Y and Manichaikul, Ani and Manning, Alisa K and Mathias, Rasika A and McManus, David D and McGarvey, Stephen T and Meigs, James B and Meyers, Deborah A and Mikulla, Julie L and Minear, Mollie A and Mitchell, Braxton D and Mohanty, Sanghamitra and Montasser, May E and Montgomery, Courtney and Morrison, Alanna C and Murabito, Joanne M and Natale, Andrea and Natarajan, Pradeep and Nelson, Sarah C and North, Kari E and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Palmer, Nicholette D and Pankratz, Nathan and Peloso, Gina M and Peyser, Patricia A and Pleiness, Jacob and Post, Wendy S and Psaty, Bruce M and Rao, D C and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alexander P and Roden, Dan and Rotter, Jerome I and Ruczinski, Ingo and Sarnowski, Chloe and Schoenherr, Sebastian and Schwartz, David A and Seo, Jeong-Sun and Seshadri, Sudha and Sheehan, Vivien A and Sheu, Wayne H and Shoemaker, M Benjamin and Smith, Nicholas L and Smith, Jennifer A and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Stilp, Adrienne M and Tang, Weihong and Taylor, Kent D and Telen, Marilyn and Thornton, Timothy A and Tracy, Russell P and Van Den Berg, David J and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Viaud-Martinez, Karine A and Vrieze, Scott and Weeks, Daniel E and Weir, Bruce S and Weiss, Scott T and Weng, Lu-Chen and Willer, Cristen J and Zhang, Yingze and Zhao, Xutong and Arnett, Donna K and Ashley-Koch, Allison E and Barnes, Kathleen C and Boerwinkle, Eric and Gabriel, Stacey and Gibbs, Richard and Rice, Kenneth M and Rich, Stephen S and Silverman, Edwin K and Qasba, Pankaj and Gan, Weiniu and Papanicolaou, George J and Nickerson, Deborah A and Browning, Sharon R and Zody, Michael C and Z{\"o}llner, Sebastian and Wilson, James G and Cupples, L Adrienne and Laurie, Cathy C and Jaquish, Cashell E and Hernandez, Ryan D and O{\textquoteright}Connor, Timothy D and Abecasis, Goncalo R} } @article {9038, title = {Monogenic and Polygenic Contributions to QTc Prolongation in the Population.}, journal = {Circulation}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Apr 07}, abstract = {

Rare sequence variation in genes underlying cardiac repolarization and common polygenic variation influence QT interval duration. However, current clinical genetic testing of individuals with unexplained QT prolongation is restricted to examination of monogenic rare variants. The recent emergence of large-scale biorepositories with sequence data enables examination of the joint contribution of rare and common variation to the QT interval in the population. We performed a genome wide association study (GWAS) of the QTc in 84,630 United Kingdom Biobank (UKB) participants and created a polygenic risk score (PRS). Among 26,976 participants with whole genome sequencing and electrocardiogram data in the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program, we identified 160 carriers of putative pathogenic rare variants in 10 genes known to be associated with the QT interval. We examined QTc associations with the PRS and with rare variants in TOPMed. Fifty-four independent loci were identified by GWAS in the UKB. Twenty-one loci were novel, of which 12 were replicated in TOPMed. The PRS comprising 1,110,494 common variants was significantly associated with the QTc in TOPMed (ΔQTc/ = 1.4 ms, 95\% CI 1.3 -1.5; p-value=1.1{\texttimes}10). Carriers of putative pathogenic rare variants had longer QTc than non-carriers (ΔQTc=10.9 ms [7.4-14.4]). 23.7\% of individuals with QTc>480 ms carried either a monogenic rare variant or had a PRS in the top decile (3.4\% monogenic, 21\% top decile of PRS). QTc duration in the population is influenced by both rare variants in genes underlying cardiac repolarization and polygenic risk, with a sizeable contribution from polygenic risk. Comprehensive assessment of the genetic determinants of QTc prolongation includes incorporation of both polygenic and monogenic risk.

}, issn = {1524-4539}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.057261}, author = {Nauffal, Victor and Morrill, Valerie N and Jurgens, Sean J and Choi, Seung Hoan and Hall, Amelia W and Weng, Lu-Chen and Halford, Jennifer L and Austin-Tse, Christina and Haggerty, Christopher M and Harris, Stephanie L and Wong, Eugene K and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and Benjamin, Emelia J and Boerwinkle, Eric and Min, Yuan-I and Correa, Adolfo and Fornwalt, Brandon K and Heckbert, Susan R and Kooperberg, Charles and Lin, Henry J and Loos, Ruth J F and Rice, Kenneth M and Gupta, Namrata and Blackwell, Thomas W and Mitchell, Braxton D and Morrison, Alanna C and Psaty, Bruce M and Post, Wendy S and Redline, Susan and Rehm, Heidi L and Rich, Stephen S and Rotter, Jerome I and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Ellinor, Patrick T and Lubitz, Steven A} } @article {9158, title = {Whole genome sequence association analysis of fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels in diverse cohorts from the NHLBI TOPMed program.}, journal = {Commun Biol}, volume = {5}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 07 28}, pages = {756}, abstract = {

The genetic determinants of fasting glucose (FG) and fasting insulin (FI) have been studied mostly through genome arrays, resulting in over 100 associated variants. We extended this work with high-coverage whole genome sequencing analyses from fifteen cohorts in NHLBI{\textquoteright}s Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. Over 23,000 non-diabetic individuals from five race-ethnicities/populations (African, Asian, European, Hispanic and Samoan) were included. Eight variants were significantly associated with FG or FI across previously identified regions MTNR1B, G6PC2, GCK, GCKR and FOXA2. We additionally characterize suggestive associations with FG or FI near previously identified SLC30A8, TCF7L2, and ADCY5 regions as well as APOB, PTPRT, and ROBO1. Functional annotation resources including the Diabetes Epigenome Atlas were compiled for each signal (chromatin states, annotation principal components, and others) to elucidate variant-to-function hypotheses. We provide a catalog of nucleotide-resolution genomic variation spanning intergenic and intronic regions creating a foundation for future sequencing-based investigations of glycemic traits.

}, keywords = {Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Fasting, Glucose, Humans, Insulin, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.), Nerve Tissue Proteins, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Precision Medicine, Receptors, Immunologic, United States}, issn = {2399-3642}, doi = {10.1038/s42003-022-03702-4}, author = {DiCorpo, Daniel and Gaynor, Sheila M and Russell, Emily M and Westerman, Kenneth E and Raffield, Laura M and Majarian, Timothy D and Wu, Peitao and Sarnowski, Chloe and Highland, Heather M and Jackson, Anne and Hasbani, Natalie R and de Vries, Paul S and Brody, Jennifer A and Hidalgo, Bertha and Guo, Xiuqing and Perry, James A and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Lent, Samantha and Montasser, May E and Cade, Brian E and Jain, Deepti and Wang, Heming and D{\textquoteright}Oliveira Albanus, Ricardo and Varshney, Arushi and Yanek, Lisa R and Lange, Leslie and Palmer, Nicholette D and Almeida, Marcio and Peralta, Juan M and Aslibekyan, Stella and Baldridge, Abigail S and Bertoni, Alain G and Bielak, Lawrence F and Chen, Chung-Shiuan and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Choi, Won Jung and Goodarzi, Mark O and Floyd, James S and Irvin, Marguerite R and Kalyani, Rita R and Kelly, Tanika N and Lee, Seonwook and Liu, Ching-Ti and Loesch, Douglas and Manson, JoAnn E and Minster, Ryan L and Naseri, Take and Pankow, James S and Rasmussen-Torvik, Laura J and Reiner, Alexander P and Reupena, Muagututi{\textquoteright}a Sefuiva and Selvin, Elizabeth and Smith, Jennifer A and Weeks, Daniel E and Xu, Huichun and Yao, Jie and Zhao, Wei and Parker, Stephen and Alonso, Alvaro and Arnett, Donna K and Blangero, John and Boerwinkle, Eric and Correa, Adolfo and Cupples, L Adrienne and Curran, Joanne E and Duggirala, Ravindranath and He, Jiang and Heckbert, Susan R and Kardia, Sharon L R and Kim, Ryan W and Kooperberg, Charles and Liu, Simin and Mathias, Rasika A and McGarvey, Stephen T and Mitchell, Braxton D and Morrison, Alanna C and Peyser, Patricia A and Psaty, Bruce M and Redline, Susan and Shuldiner, Alan R and Taylor, Kent D and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Viaud-Martinez, Karine A and Florez, Jose C and Wilson, James G and Sladek, Robert and Rich, Stephen S and Rotter, Jerome I and Lin, Xihong and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Meigs, James B and Wessel, Jennifer and Manning, Alisa K} } @article {9386, title = {Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential is Associated with Acute Kidney Injury.}, journal = {medRxiv}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 May 17}, abstract = {

Age is a predominant risk factor for acute kidney injury (AKI), yet the biological mechanisms underlying this risk are largely unknown and to date no genetic mechanisms for AKI have been established. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is a recently recognized biological mechanism conferring risk of several chronic aging diseases including cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease and liver disease. In CHIP, blood stem cells acquire mutations in myeloid cancer driver genes such as and and the myeloid progeny of these mutated cells contribute to end-organ damage through inflammatory dysregulation. We sought to establish whether CHIP causes acute kidney injury (AKI). To address this question, we first evaluated associations with incident AKI events in three population-based epidemiology cohorts (N = 442,153). We found that CHIP was associated with a greater risk of AKI (adjusted HR 1.26, 95\% CI: 1.19-1.34, p<0.0001), which was more pronounced in patients with AKI requiring dialysis (adjusted HR 1.65, 95\% CI: 1.24-2.20, p=0.001). The risk was particularly high in the subset of individuals where CHIP was driven by mutations in genes other than (HR: 1.49, 95\% CI: 1.37-1.61, p<0.0001). We then examined the association between CHIP and recovery from AKI in the ASSESS-AKI cohort and identified that non- CHIP was more common among those with a non-resolving pattern of injury (HR 2.3, 95\% CI: 1.14-4.64, p = 0.03). To gain mechanistic insight, we evaluated the role of -CHIP to AKI in ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) mouse models. In both models, we observed more severe AKI and greater post-AKI kidney fibrosis in -CHIP mice. Kidney macrophage infiltration was markedly increased in -CHIP mice and -CHIP mutant renal macrophages displayed greater pro-inflammatory responses. In summary, this work establishes CHIP as a genetic mechanism conferring risk of AKI and impaired kidney function recovery following AKI via an aberrant inflammatory response in CHIP derived renal macrophages.

}, doi = {10.1101/2023.05.16.23290051}, author = {Vlasschaert, Caitlyn and Robinson-Cohen, Cassianne and Kestenbaum, Bryan and Silver, Samuel A and Chen, Jian-Chun and Akwo, Elvis and Bhatraju, Pavan K and Zhang, Ming-Zhi and Cao, Shirong and Jiang, Ming and Wang, Yinqiu and Niu, Aolei and Siew, Edward and Kramer, Holly J and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Franceschini, Nora and Psaty, Bruce M and Tracy, Russell P and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and Coresh, Josef and Ballantyne, Christie M and Boerwinkle, Eric and Grams, Morgan and Lanktree, Matthew B and Rauh, Michael J and Harris, Raymond C and Bick, Alexander G} } @article {9322, title = {Genetic architecture of spatial electrical biomarkers for cardiac arrhythmia and relationship with cardiovascular disease.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {14}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Mar 14}, pages = {1411}, abstract = {

The 3-dimensional spatial and 2-dimensional frontal QRS-T angles are measures derived from the vectorcardiogram. They are independent risk predictors for arrhythmia, but the underlying biology is unknown. Using multi-ancestry genome-wide association studies we identify 61 (58 previously unreported) loci for the spatial QRS-T angle (N = 118,780) and 11 for the frontal QRS-T angle (N = 159,715). Seven out of the 61 spatial QRS-T angle loci have not been reported for other electrocardiographic measures. Enrichments are observed in pathways related to cardiac and vascular development, muscle contraction, and hypertrophy. Pairwise genome-wide association studies with classical ECG traits identify shared genetic influences with PR interval and QRS duration.~Phenome-wide scanning indicate associations with atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular block and arterial embolism~and~genetically determined QRS-T angle measures are associated with fascicular and bundle branch block (and also atrioventricular block for the frontal QRS-T angle). We identify potential biology involved in the QRS-T angle~and~their genetic relationships with cardiovascular traits and diseases, may inform future research and risk prediction.

}, keywords = {Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Atrioventricular Block, Biomarkers, Cardiovascular Diseases, Electrocardiography, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Risk Factors}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-36997-w}, author = {Young, William J and Haessler, Jeffrey and Benjamins, Jan-Walter and Repetto, Linda and Yao, Jie and Isaacs, Aaron and Harper, Andrew R and Ramirez, Julia and Garnier, Sophie and Van Duijvenboden, Stefan and Baldassari, Antoine R and Concas, Maria Pina and Duong, ThuyVy and Foco, Luisa and Isaksen, Jonas L and Mei, Hao and Noordam, Raymond and Nursyifa, Casia and Richmond, Anne and Santolalla, Meddly L and Sitlani, Colleen M and Soroush, Negin and Th{\'e}riault, S{\'e}bastien and Trompet, Stella and Aeschbacher, Stefanie and Ahmadizar, Fariba and Alonso, Alvaro and Brody, Jennifer A and Campbell, Archie and Correa, Adolfo and Darbar, Dawood and De Luca, Antonio and Deleuze, Jean-Francois and Ellervik, Christina and Fuchsberger, Christian and Goel, Anuj and Grace, Christopher and Guo, Xiuqing and Hansen, Torben and Heckbert, Susan R and Jackson, Rebecca D and Kors, Jan A and Lima-Costa, Maria Fernanda and Linneberg, Allan and Macfarlane, Peter W and Morrison, Alanna C and Navarro, Pau and Porteous, David J and Pramstaller, Peter P and Reiner, Alexander P and Risch, Lorenz and Schotten, Ulrich and Shen, Xia and Sinagra, Gianfranco and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Stoll, Monika and Tarazona-Santos, Eduardo and Tinker, Andrew and Trajanoska, Katerina and Villard, Eric and Warren, Helen R and Whitsel, Eric A and Wiggins, Kerri L and Arking, Dan E and Avery, Christy L and Conen, David and Girotto, Giorgia and Grarup, Niels and Hayward, Caroline and Jukema, J Wouter and Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O and Olesen, Morten Salling and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Psaty, Bruce M and Pattaro, Cristian and Ribeiro, Antonio Luiz P and Rotter, Jerome I and Stricker, Bruno H and van der Harst, Pim and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Verweij, Niek and Wilson, James G and Orini, Michele and Charron, Philippe and Watkins, Hugh and Kooperberg, Charles and Lin, Henry J and Wilson, James F and Kanters, J{\o}rgen K and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Mifsud, Borbala and Lambiase, Pier D and Tereshchenko, Larisa G and Munroe, Patricia B} }