@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 {1323, title = {Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from the CHARGE consortium identifies common variants associated with carotid intima media thickness and plaque.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {43}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Sep 11}, pages = {940-7}, abstract = {

Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and plaque determined by ultrasonography are established measures of subclinical atherosclerosis that each predicts future cardiovascular disease events. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in 31,211 participants of European ancestry from nine large studies in the setting of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. We then sought additional evidence to support our findings among 11,273 individuals using data from seven additional studies. In the combined meta-analysis, we identified three genomic regions associated with common carotid intima media thickness and two different regions associated with the presence of carotid plaque (P < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). The associated SNPs mapped in or near genes related to cellular signaling, lipid metabolism and blood pressure homeostasis, and two of the regions were associated with coronary artery disease (P < 0.006) in the Coronary Artery Disease Genome-Wide Replication and Meta-Analysis (CARDIoGRAM) consortium. Our findings may provide new insight into pathways leading to subclinical atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular events.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Aging, Atherosclerosis, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Cohort Studies, Coronary Artery Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Heart, Humans, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Plaque, Atherosclerotic, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.920}, author = {Bis, Joshua C and Kavousi, Maryam and Franceschini, Nora and Isaacs, Aaron and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Schminke, Ulf and Post, Wendy S and Smith, Albert V and Cupples, L Adrienne and Markus, Hugh S and Schmidt, Reinhold and Huffman, Jennifer E and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Baumert, Jens and M{\"u}nzel, Thomas and Heckbert, Susan R and Dehghan, Abbas and North, Kari and Oostra, Ben and Bevan, Steve and Stoegerer, Eva-Maria and Hayward, Caroline and Raitakari, Olli and Meisinger, Christa and Schillert, Arne and Sanna, Serena and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Cheng, Yu-Ching and Thorsson, Bolli and Fox, Caroline S and Rice, Kenneth and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Nambi, Vijay and Halperin, Eran and Petrovic, Katja E and Peltonen, Leena and Wichmann, H Erich and Schnabel, Renate B and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Parsa, Afshin and Aspelund, Thor and Demissie, Serkalem and Kathiresan, Sekar and Reilly, Muredach P and Taylor, Kent and Uitterlinden, Andre and Couper, David J and Sitzer, Matthias and K{\"a}h{\"o}nen, Mika and Illig, Thomas and Wild, Philipp S and Orr{\`u}, Marco and L{\"u}demann, Jan and Shuldiner, Alan R and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and White, Charles C and Rotter, Jerome I and Hofman, Albert and Seissler, Jochen and Zeller, Tanja and Usala, Gianluca and Ernst, Florian and Launer, Lenore J and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, Ralph B and O{\textquoteright}Leary, Daniel H and Ballantyne, Christie and Thiery, Joachim and Ziegler, Andreas and Lakatta, Edward G and Chilukoti, Ravi Kumar and Harris, Tamara B and Wolf, Philip A and Psaty, Bruce M and Polak, Joseph F and Li, Xia and Rathmann, Wolfgang and Uda, Manuela and Boerwinkle, Eric and Klopp, Norman and Schmidt, Helena and Wilson, James F and Viikari, Jorma and Koenig, Wolfgang and Blankenberg, Stefan and Newman, Anne B and Witteman, Jacqueline and Heiss, Gerardo and Duijn, Cornelia van and Scuteri, Angelo and Homuth, Georg and Mitchell, Braxton D and Gudnason, Vilmundur and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J} } @article {1359, title = {Association between chromosome 9p21 variants and the ankle-brachial index identified by a meta-analysis of 21 genome-wide association studies.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Feb 01}, pages = {100-12}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genetic determinants of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) remain largely unknown. To identify genetic variants associated with the ankle-brachial index (ABI), a noninvasive measure of PAD, we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association study data from 21 population-based cohorts.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Continuous ABI and PAD (ABI <=0.9) phenotypes adjusted for age and sex were examined. Each study conducted genotyping and imputed data to the ≈2.5 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in HapMap. Linear and logistic regression models were used to test each SNP for association with ABI and PAD using additive genetic models. Study-specific data were combined using fixed effects inverse variance weighted meta-analyses. There were a total of 41 692 participants of European ancestry (≈60\% women, mean ABI 1.02 to 1.19), including 3409 participants with PAD and with genome-wide association study data available. In the discovery meta-analysis, rs10757269 on chromosome 9 near CDKN2B had the strongest association with ABI (β=-0.006, P=2.46{\texttimes}10(-8)). We sought replication of the 6 strongest SNP associations in 5 population-based studies and 3 clinical samples (n=16 717). The association for rs10757269 strengthened in the combined discovery and replication analysis (P=2.65{\texttimes}10(-9)). No other SNP associations for ABI or PAD achieved genome-wide significance. However, 2 previously reported candidate genes for PAD and 1 SNP associated with coronary artery disease were associated with ABI: DAB21P (rs13290547, P=3.6{\texttimes}10(-5)), CYBA (rs3794624, P=6.3{\texttimes}10(-5)), and rs1122608 (LDLR, P=0.0026).

CONCLUSIONS: Genome-wide association studies in more than 40 000 individuals identified 1 genome wide significant association on chromosome 9p21 with ABI. Two candidate genes for PAD and 1 SNP for coronary artery disease are associated with ABI.

}, keywords = {Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alleles, Ankle Brachial Index, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9, Cohort Studies, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p15, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, HapMap Project, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, Peripheral Vascular Diseases, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors, Sex Factors}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.111.961292}, author = {Murabito, Joanne M and White, Charles C and Kavousi, Maryam and Sun, Yan V and Feitosa, Mary F and Nambi, Vijay and Lamina, Claudia and Schillert, Arne and Coassin, Stefan and Bis, Joshua C and Broer, Linda and Crawford, Dana C and Franceschini, Nora and Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth and Haun, Margot and Holewijn, Suzanne and Huffman, Jennifer E and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Kiechl, Stefan and Kollerits, Barbara and Montasser, May E and Nolte, Ilja M and Rudock, Megan E and Senft, Andrea and Teumer, Alexander and van der Harst, Pim and Vitart, Veronique and Waite, Lindsay L and Wood, Andrew R and Wassel, Christina L and Absher, Devin M and Allison, Matthew A and Amin, Najaf and Arnold, Alice and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Aulchenko, Yurii and Bandinelli, Stefania and Barbalic, Maja and Boban, Mladen and Brown-Gentry, Kristin and Couper, David J and Criqui, Michael H and Dehghan, Abbas and den Heijer, Martin and Dieplinger, Benjamin and Ding, Jingzhong and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Espinola-Klein, Christine and Felix, Stephan B and Ferrucci, Luigi and Folsom, Aaron R and Fraedrich, Gustav and Gibson, Quince and Goodloe, Robert and Gunjaca, Grgo and Haltmayer, Meinhard and Heiss, Gerardo and Hofman, Albert and Kieback, Arne and Kiemeney, Lambertus A and Kolcic, Ivana and Kullo, Iftikhar J and Kritchevsky, Stephen B and Lackner, Karl J and Li, Xiaohui and Lieb, Wolfgang and Lohman, Kurt and Meisinger, Christa and Melzer, David and Mohler, Emile R and Mudnic, Ivana and Mueller, Thomas and Navis, Gerjan and Oberhollenzer, Friedrich and Olin, Jeffrey W and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeff and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Palmas, Walter and Penninx, Brenda W and Petersmann, Astrid and Polasek, Ozren and Psaty, Bruce M and Rantner, Barbara and Rice, Ken and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Rotter, Jerome I and Seldenrijk, Adrie and Stadler, Marietta and Summerer, Monika and Tanaka, Toshiko and Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van Gilst, Wiek H and Vermeulen, Sita H and Wild, Sarah H and Wild, Philipp S and Willeit, Johann and Zeller, Tanja and Zemunik, Tatijana and Zgaga, Lina and Assimes, Themistocles L and Blankenberg, Stefan and Boerwinkle, Eric and Campbell, Harry and Cooke, John P and de Graaf, Jacqueline and Herrington, David and Kardia, Sharon L R and Mitchell, Braxton D and Murray, Anna and M{\"u}nzel, Thomas and Newman, Anne B and Oostra, Ben A and Rudan, Igor and Shuldiner, Alan R and Snieder, Harold and van Duijn, Cornelia M and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Wright, Alan F and Wichmann, H-Erich and Wilson, James F and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Liu, Yongmei and Hayward, Caroline and Borecki, Ingrid B and Ziegler, Andreas and North, Kari E and Cupples, L Adrienne and Kronenberg, Florian} } @article {7004, title = {Genome-Wide Association Study for Incident Myocardial Infarction and Coronary Heart Disease in Prospective Cohort Studies: The CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {11}, year = {2016}, month = {2016}, pages = {e0144997}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Data are limited on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for incident coronary heart disease (CHD). Moreover, it is not known whether genetic variants identified to date also associate with risk of CHD in a prospective setting.

METHODS: We performed a two-stage GWAS analysis of incident myocardial infarction (MI) and CHD in a total of 64,297 individuals (including 3898 MI cases, 5465 CHD cases). SNPs that passed an arbitrary threshold of 5{\texttimes}10-6 in Stage I were taken to Stage II for further discovery. Furthermore, in an analysis of prognosis, we studied whether known SNPs from former GWAS were associated with total mortality in individuals who experienced MI during follow-up.

RESULTS: In Stage I 15 loci passed the threshold of 5{\texttimes}10-6; 8 loci for MI and 8 loci for CHD, for which one locus overlapped and none were reported in previous GWAS meta-analyses. We took 60 SNPs representing these 15 loci to Stage II of discovery. Four SNPs near QKI showed nominally significant association with MI (p-value<8.8{\texttimes}10-3) and three exceeded the genome-wide significance threshold when Stage I and Stage II results were combined (top SNP rs6941513: p = 6.2{\texttimes}10-9). Despite excellent power, the 9p21 locus SNP (rs1333049) was only modestly associated with MI (HR = 1.09, p-value = 0.02) and marginally with CHD (HR = 1.06, p-value = 0.08). Among an inception cohort of those who experienced MI during follow-up, the risk allele of rs1333049 was associated with a decreased risk of subsequent mortality (HR = 0.90, p-value = 3.2{\texttimes}10-3).

CONCLUSIONS: QKI represents a novel locus that may serve as a predictor of incident CHD in prospective studies. The association of the 9p21 locus both with increased risk of first myocardial infarction and longer survival after MI highlights the importance of study design in investigating genetic determinants of complex disorders.

}, keywords = {Aged, Cohort Studies, Cooperative Behavior, Coronary Artery Disease, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Myocardial Infarction, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Prospective Studies}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0144997}, author = {Dehghan, Abbas and Bis, Joshua C and White, Charles C and Smith, Albert Vernon and Morrison, Alanna C and Cupples, L Adrienne and Trompet, Stella and Chasman, Daniel I and Lumley, Thomas and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Buckley, Brendan M and Ding, Jingzhong and Jensen, Majken K and Folsom, Aaron R and Kritchevsky, Stephen B and Girman, Cynthia J and Ford, Ian and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Salomaa, Veikko and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Franceschini, Nora and Carty, Cara L and Virtamo, Jarmo and Demissie, Serkalem and Amouyel, Philippe and Arveiler, Dominique and Heckbert, Susan R and Ferrieres, Jean and Ducimetiere, Pierre and Smith, Nicholas L and Wang, Ying A and Siscovick, David S and Rice, Kenneth M and Wiklund, Per-Gunnar and Taylor, Kent D and Evans, Alun and Kee, Frank and Rotter, Jerome I and Karvanen, Juha and Kuulasmaa, Kari and Heiss, Gerardo and Kraft, Peter and Launer, Lenore J and Hofman, Albert and Markus, Marcello R P and Rose, Lynda M and Silander, Kaisa and Wagner, Peter and Benjamin, Emelia J and Lohman, Kurt and Stott, David J and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Harris, Tamara B and Levy, Daniel and Liu, Yongmei and Rimm, Eric B and Jukema, J Wouter and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Ridker, Paul M and Blankenberg, Stefan and Franco, Oscar H and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Psaty, Bruce M and Boerwinkle, Eric and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J} } @article {9918, title = {Clinical and Imaging Markers of Cardiac Function and Brain Health: A Meta-Analysis of Community-Based Studies.}, journal = {Neurology}, volume = {104}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Apr 22}, pages = {e213421}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cardiac dysfunction and heart failure are linked to cognitive impairment, but the underlying brain pathology remains undetermined. We investigated associations between cardiac function (measured by echocardiography or cardiac MRI), clinical heart failure, and structural markers on brain MRI, including volumes of gray and white matter (WM), the hippocampus, and white matter hyperintensities (WMHs).

METHODS: We leverage data from 7 prospective, community-based cohorts across Europe and the United States, all part of the Cross-Cohort Collaboration. The included cohorts were the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, Austrian Stroke Prevention Study, Cardiovascular Health Study, Framingham Heart Study, Rotterdam Study, and Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-START and SHIP-TREND). Each cohort performed cross-sectional multivariable linear regression analyses, after which estimates were pooled through random-effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed by the index (\%).

RESULTS: Among 10,889 participants (mean age: 66.8 years, range 52.0-76.0; 56.7\% women), markers of systolic dysfunction were consistently associated with smaller total brain volume (TBV) (e.g., adjusted standardized mean difference for moderate to severe dysfunction -0.19, 95\% CI -0.31 to -0.07, = 20\%). Impaired relaxation and restrictive diastolic dysfunction were also associated with smaller TBV (e.g., for impaired relaxation -0.08, 95\% CI -0.15 to -0.01, = 32\%) and hippocampal volume (-0.18, 95\% CI -0.33 to -0.03, = 0\%), with similar results for the E/A-ratio. Systolic and diastolic dysfunction was not consistently associated with volume of WMHs. Among 5 cohorts with available data, 302 (3.4\%) participants had clinical heart failure, which was associated with smaller brain volumes, particularly in the hippocampus (-0.13, 95\% CI -0.23 to -0.02, = 1\%).

DISCUSSION: In this large study among community-dwelling adults, subclinical cardiac dysfunction was associated with brain imaging markers of neurodegeneration. These findings encourage longitudinal investigations on the effect of maintaining cardiac function on brain health.

}, keywords = {Aged, Brain, Cohort Studies, Echocardiography, Female, Heart Failure, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, White Matter}, issn = {1526-632X}, doi = {10.1212/WNL.0000000000213421}, author = {Yaqub, Amber and Bis, Joshua C and Frenzel, Stefan and Koini, Marisa and Mbangdadji, Djass and Peloso, Gina M and Talluri, Rajesh and Alonso, Alvaro and Bahls, Martin and B{\"u}low, Robin and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Felix, Stephan and Fohner, Alison and Friedrich, Nele and Hofer, Edith and Kavousi, Maryam and Launer, Lenore J and Le, Tran and Longstreth, Will and Mosley, Thomas H and Vernooij, Meike W and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Wittfeld, Katharina and Beiser, Alexa S and Grabe, Hans J and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Ikram, Mohammad Arfan and Psaty, Bruce M and Schmidt, Reinhold and Simino, Jeannette and Seshadri, Sudha and Wolters, Frank J} }