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

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

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

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

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

}, keywords = {African Continental Ancestry Group, Aged, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Factors, Stroke}, issn = {1533-4406}, doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa0900094}, author = {Ikram, M Arfan and Seshadri, Sudha and Bis, Joshua C and Fornage, Myriam and DeStefano, Anita L and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Debette, Stephanie and Lumley, Thomas and Folsom, Aaron R and van den Herik, Evita G and Bos, Michiel J and Beiser, Alexa and Cushman, Mary and Launer, Lenore J and Shahar, Eyal and Struchalin, Maksim and Du, Yangchun and Glazer, Nicole L and Rosamond, Wayne D and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Kelly-Hayes, Margaret and Lopez, Oscar L and Coresh, Josef and Hofman, Albert and DeCarli, Charles and Heckbert, Susan R and Koudstaal, Peter J and Yang, Qiong and Smith, Nicholas L and Kase, Carlos S and Rice, Kenneth and Haritunians, Talin and Roks, Gerwin and de Kort, Paul L M and Taylor, Kent D and de Lau, Lonneke M and Oostra, Ben A and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Rotter, Jerome I and Boerwinkle, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Mosley, Thomas H and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Breteler, Monique M B and Longstreth, W T and Wolf, Philip A} } @article {1099, title = {Multiple loci associated with indices of renal function and chronic kidney disease.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {41}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Jun}, pages = {712-7}, abstract = {

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a heritable component and is an important global public health problem because of its high prevalence and morbidity. We conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify susceptibility loci for glomerular filtration rate, estimated by serum creatinine (eGFRcrea) and cystatin C (eGFRcys), and CKD (eGFRcrea < 60 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) in European-ancestry participants of four population-based cohorts (ARIC, CHS, FHS, RS; n = 19,877; 2,388 CKD cases), and tested for replication in 21,466 participants (1,932 CKD cases). We identified significant SNP associations (P < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) with CKD at the UMOD locus, with eGFRcrea at UMOD, SHROOM3 and GATM-SPATA5L1, and with eGFRcys at CST and STC1. UMOD encodes the most common protein in human urine, Tamm-Horsfall protein, and rare mutations in UMOD cause mendelian forms of kidney disease. Our findings provide new insights into CKD pathogenesis and underscore the importance of common genetic variants influencing renal function and disease.

}, keywords = {Chromosome Mapping, Cohort Studies, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Glomerular Filtration Rate, Humans, Kidney, Kidney Failure, Chronic, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Mucoproteins, Netherlands, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Prevalence, Uromodulin}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.377}, author = {K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Glazer, Nicole L and Dehghan, Abbas and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Katz, Ronit and Li, Man and Yang, Qiong and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Launer, Lenore J and Harris, Tamara B and Smith, Albert V and Arking, Dan E and Astor, Brad C and Boerwinkle, Eric and Ehret, Georg B and Ruczinski, Ingo and Scharpf, Robert B and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and de Boer, Ian H and Haritunians, Talin and Lumley, Thomas and Sarnak, Mark and Siscovick, David and Benjamin, Emelia J and Levy, Daniel and Upadhyay, Ashish and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Hofman, Albert and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Chasman, Daniel I and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and Ridker, Paul M and Kao, W H Linda and Witteman, Jacqueline C and Coresh, Josef and Shlipak, Michael G and Fox, Caroline S} } @article {1141, title = {Multiple loci influence erythrocyte phenotypes in the CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {41}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Nov}, pages = {1191-8}, abstract = {

Measurements of erythrocytes within the blood are important clinical traits and can indicate various hematological disorders. We report here genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for six erythrocyte traits, including hemoglobin concentration (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and red blood cell count (RBC). We performed an initial GWAS in cohorts of the CHARGE Consortium totaling 24,167 individuals of European ancestry and replication in additional independent cohorts of the HaemGen Consortium totaling 9,456 individuals. We identified 23 loci significantly associated with these traits in a meta-analysis of the discovery and replication cohorts (combined P values ranging from 5 x 10(-8) to 7 x 10(-86)). Our findings include loci previously associated with these traits (HBS1L-MYB, HFE, TMPRSS6, TFR2, SPTA1) as well as new associations (EPO, TFRC, SH2B3 and 15 other loci). This study has identified new determinants of erythrocyte traits, offering insight into common variants underlying variation in erythrocyte measures.

}, keywords = {Blood Pressure, Cell Line, Cohort Studies, Endothelial Cells, Erythrocytes, Gene Expression, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Hypertension, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.466}, author = {Ganesh, Santhi K and Zakai, Neil A and van Rooij, Frank J A and Soranzo, Nicole and Smith, Albert V and Nalls, Michael A and Chen, Ming-Huei and K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Glazer, Nicole L and Dehghan, Abbas and Kuhnel, Brigitte and Aspelund, Thor and Yang, Qiong and Tanaka, Toshiko and Jaffe, Andrew and Bis, Joshua C M and Verwoert, Germaine C and Teumer, Alexander and Fox, Caroline S and Guralnik, Jack M and Ehret, Georg B and Rice, Kenneth and Felix, Janine F and Rendon, Augusto and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Levy, Daniel and Patel, Kushang V and Boerwinkle, Eric and Rotter, Jerome I and Hofman, Albert and Sambrook, Jennifer G and Hernandez, Dena G and Zheng, Gang and Bandinelli, Stefania and Singleton, Andrew B and Coresh, Josef and Lumley, Thomas and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Vangils, Janine M and Launer, Lenore J and Cupples, L Adrienne and Oostra, Ben A and Zwaginga, Jaap-Jan and Ouwehand, Willem H and Thein, Swee-Lay and Meisinger, Christa and Deloukas, Panos and Nauck, Matthias and Spector, Tim D and Gieger, Christian and Gudnason, Vilmundur and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Psaty, Bruce M and Ferrucci, Luigi and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Greinacher, Andreas and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Furth, Susan and Cushman, Mary and Harris, Tamara B and Lin, Jing-Ping} } @article {1107, title = {NRXN3 is a novel locus for waist circumference: a genome-wide association study from the CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {PLoS Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Jun}, pages = {e1000539}, abstract = {

Central abdominal fat is a strong risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. To identify common variants influencing central abdominal fat, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association analysis for waist circumference (WC). In total, three loci reached genome-wide significance. In stage 1, 31,373 individuals of Caucasian descent from eight cohort studies confirmed the role of FTO and MC4R and identified one novel locus associated with WC in the neurexin 3 gene [NRXN3 (rs10146997, p = 6.4x10(-7))]. The association with NRXN3 was confirmed in stage 2 by combining stage 1 results with those from 38,641 participants in the GIANT consortium (p = 0.009 in GIANT only, p = 5.3x10(-8) for combined analysis, n = 70,014). Mean WC increase per copy of the G allele was 0.0498 z-score units (0.65 cm). This SNP was also associated with body mass index (BMI) [p = 7.4x10(-6), 0.024 z-score units (0.10 kg/m(2)) per copy of the G allele] and the risk of obesity (odds ratio 1.13, 95\% CI 1.07-1.19; p = 3.2x10(-5) per copy of the G allele). The NRXN3 gene has been previously implicated in addiction and reward behavior, lending further evidence that common forms of obesity may be a central nervous system-mediated disorder. Our findings establish that common variants in NRXN3 are associated with WC, BMI, and obesity.

}, keywords = {Aged, Body Mass Index, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Obesity, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Waist Circumference}, issn = {1553-7404}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1000539}, author = {Heard-Costa, Nancy L and Zillikens, M Carola and Monda, Keri L and Johansson, Asa and Harris, Tamara B and Fu, Mao and Haritunians, Talin and Feitosa, Mary F and Aspelund, Thor and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Garcia, Melissa and Launer, Lenore J and Smith, Albert V and Mitchell, Braxton D and McArdle, Patrick F and Shuldiner, Alan R and Bielinski, Suzette J and Boerwinkle, Eric and Brancati, Fred and Demerath, Ellen W and Pankow, James S and Arnold, Alice M and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Glazer, Nicole L and McKnight, Barbara and Psaty, Bruce M and Rotter, Jerome I and Amin, Najaf and Campbell, Harry and Gyllensten, Ulf and Pattaro, Cristian and Pramstaller, Peter P and Rudan, Igor and Struchalin, Maksim and Vitart, Veronique and Gao, Xiaoyi and Kraja, Aldi and Province, Michael A and Zhang, Qunyuan and Atwood, Larry D and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Hirschhorn, Joel N and Jaquish, Cashell E and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Vasan, Ramachandran S and White, Charles C and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Estrada, Karol and Hofman, Albert and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Oostra, Ben A and Kaplan, Robert C and Gudnason, Vilmundur and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Borecki, Ingrid B and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Cupples, L Adrienne and Fox, Caroline S and North, Kari E} } @article {1197, title = {Association of genome-wide variation with the risk of incident heart failure in adults of European and African ancestry: a prospective meta-analysis from the cohorts for heart and aging research in genomic epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {3}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Jun}, pages = {256-66}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Although genetic factors contribute to the onset of heart failure (HF), no large-scale genome-wide investigation of HF risk has been published to date. We have investigated the association of 2,478,304 single-nucleotide polymorphisms with incident HF by meta-analyzing data from 4 community-based prospective cohorts: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Framingham Heart Study, and the Rotterdam Study.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Eligible participants for these analyses were of European or African ancestry and free of clinical HF at baseline. Each study independently conducted genome-wide scans and imputed data to the approximately 2.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms in HapMap. Within each study, Cox proportional hazards regression models provided age- and sex-adjusted estimates of the association between each variant and time to incident HF. Fixed-effect meta-analyses combined results for each single-nucleotide polymorphism from the 4 cohorts to produce an overall association estimate and P value. A genome-wide significance P value threshold was set a priori at 5.0x10(-7). During a mean follow-up of 11.5 years, 2526 incident HF events (12\%) occurred in 20 926 European-ancestry participants. The meta-analysis identified a genome-wide significant locus at chromosomal position 15q22 (1.4x10(-8)), which was 58.8 kb from USP3. Among 2895 African-ancestry participants, 466 incident HF events (16\%) occurred during a mean follow-up of 13.7 years. One genome-wide significant locus was identified at 12q14 (6.7x10(-8)), which was 6.3 kb from LRIG3.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified 2 loci that were associated with incident HF and exceeded genome-wide significance. The findings merit replication in other community-based settings of incident HF.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cohort Studies, Endopeptidases, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Failure, Humans, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk, Ubiquitin-Specific Proteases}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.109.895763}, author = {Smith, Nicholas L and Felix, Janine F and Morrison, Alanna C and Demissie, Serkalem and Glazer, Nicole L and Loehr, Laura R and Cupples, L Adrienne and Dehghan, Abbas and Lumley, Thomas and Rosamond, Wayne D and Lieb, Wolfgang and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Bis, Joshua C and Folsom, Aaron R and Benjamin, Emelia and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Haritunians, Talin and Couper, David and Murabito, Joanne and Wang, Ying A and Stricker, Bruno H and Gottdiener, John S and Chang, Patricia P and Wang, Thomas J and Rice, Kenneth M and Hofman, Albert and Heckbert, Susan R and Fox, Ervin R and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Rotter, Jerome I and Willerson, James T and Levy, Daniel and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Psaty, Bruce M and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Boerwinkle, Eric and Vasan, Ramachandran S} } @article {1204, title = {Common genetic determinants of vitamin D insufficiency: a genome-wide association study.}, journal = {Lancet}, volume = {376}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Jul 17}, pages = {180-8}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D is crucial for maintenance of musculoskeletal health, and might also have a role in extraskeletal tissues. Determinants of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations include sun exposure and diet, but high heritability suggests that genetic factors could also play a part. We aimed to identify common genetic variants affecting vitamin D concentrations and risk of insufficiency.

METHODS: We undertook a genome-wide association study of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in 33 996 individuals of European descent from 15 cohorts. Five epidemiological cohorts were designated as discovery cohorts (n=16 125), five as in-silico replication cohorts (n=9367), and five as de-novo replication cohorts (n=8504). 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay, chemiluminescent assay, ELISA, or mass spectrometry. Vitamin D insufficiency was defined as concentrations lower than 75 nmol/L or 50 nmol/L. We combined results of genome-wide analyses across cohorts using Z-score-weighted meta-analysis. Genotype scores were constructed for confirmed variants.

FINDINGS: Variants at three loci reached genome-wide significance in discovery cohorts for association with 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and were confirmed in replication cohorts: 4p12 (overall p=1.9x10(-109) for rs2282679, in GC); 11q12 (p=2.1x10(-27) for rs12785878, near DHCR7); and 11p15 (p=3.3x10(-20) for rs10741657, near CYP2R1). Variants at an additional locus (20q13, CYP24A1) were genome-wide significant in the pooled sample (p=6.0x10(-10) for rs6013897). Participants with a genotype score (combining the three confirmed variants) in the highest quartile were at increased risk of having 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations lower than 75 nmol/L (OR 2.47, 95\% CI 2.20-2.78, p=2.3x10(-48)) or lower than 50 nmol/L (1.92, 1.70-2.16, p=1.0x10(-26)) compared with those in the lowest quartile.

INTERPRETATION: Variants near genes involved in cholesterol synthesis, hydroxylation, and vitamin D transport affect vitamin D status. Genetic variation at these loci identifies individuals who have substantially raised risk of vitamin D insufficiency.

FUNDING: Full funding sources listed at end of paper (see Acknowledgments).

}, keywords = {Canada, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4, Cohort Studies, Dietary Supplements, Europe, European Continental Ancestry Group, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heterozygote, Homozygote, Humans, Immunoassay, International Cooperation, Linkage Disequilibrium, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Seasons, United States, Vitamin D, Vitamin D Deficiency}, issn = {1474-547X}, doi = {10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60588-0}, author = {Wang, Thomas J and Zhang, Feng and Richards, J Brent and Kestenbaum, Bryan and van Meurs, Joyce B and Berry, Diane and Kiel, Douglas P and Streeten, Elizabeth A and Ohlsson, Claes and Koller, Daniel L and Peltonen, Leena and Cooper, Jason D and O{\textquoteright}Reilly, Paul F and Houston, Denise K and Glazer, Nicole L and Vandenput, Liesbeth and Peacock, Munro and Shi, Julia and Rivadeneira, Fernando and McCarthy, Mark I and Anneli, Pouta and de Boer, Ian H and Mangino, Massimo and Kato, Bernet and Smyth, Deborah J and Booth, Sarah L and Jacques, Paul F and Burke, Greg L and Goodarzi, Mark and Cheung, Ching-Lung and Wolf, Myles and Rice, Kenneth and Goltzman, David and Hidiroglou, Nick and Ladouceur, Martin and Wareham, Nicholas J and Hocking, Lynne J and Hart, Deborah and Arden, Nigel K and Cooper, Cyrus and Malik, Suneil and Fraser, William D and Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa and Zhai, Guangju and Macdonald, Helen M and Forouhi, Nita G and Loos, Ruth J F and Reid, David M and Hakim, Alan and Dennison, Elaine and Liu, Yongmei and Power, Chris and Stevens, Helen E and Jaana, Laitinen and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Soranzo, Nicole and Bojunga, J{\"o}rg and Psaty, Bruce M and Lorentzon, Mattias and Foroud, Tatiana and Harris, Tamara B and Hofman, Albert and Jansson, John-Olov and Cauley, Jane A and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Gibson, Quince and Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta and Karasik, David and Siscovick, David S and Econs, Michael J and Kritchevsky, Stephen B and Florez, Jose C and Todd, John A and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Hypp{\"o}nen, Elina and Spector, Timothy D} } @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 {1243, title = {Four novel Loci (19q13, 6q24, 12q24, and 5q14) influence the microcirculation in vivo.}, journal = {PLoS Genet}, volume = {6}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Oct 28}, pages = {e1001184}, abstract = {

There is increasing evidence that the microcirculation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Changes in retinal vascular caliber reflect early microvascular disease and predict incident cardiovascular events. We performed a genome-wide association study to identify genetic variants associated with retinal vascular caliber. We analyzed data from four population-based discovery cohorts with 15,358 unrelated Caucasian individuals, who are members of the Cohort for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, and replicated findings in four independent Caucasian cohorts (n  =  6,652). All participants had retinal photography and retinal arteriolar and venular caliber measured from computer software. In the discovery cohorts, 179 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) spread across five loci were significantly associated (p<5.0{\texttimes}10(-8)) with retinal venular caliber, but none showed association with arteriolar caliber. Collectively, these five loci explain 1.0\%-3.2\% of the variation in retinal venular caliber. Four out of these five loci were confirmed in independent replication samples. In the combined analyses, the top SNPs at each locus were: rs2287921 (19q13; p  =  1.61{\texttimes}10(-25), within the RASIP1 locus), rs225717 (6q24; p = 1.25{\texttimes}10(-16), adjacent to the VTA1 and NMBR loci), rs10774625 (12q24; p  =  2.15{\texttimes}10(-13), in the region of ATXN2,SH2B3 and PTPN11 loci), and rs17421627 (5q14; p = 7.32{\texttimes}10(-16), adjacent to the MEF2C locus). In two independent samples, locus 12q24 was also associated with coronary heart disease and hypertension. Our population-based genome-wide association study demonstrates four novel loci associated with retinal venular caliber, an endophenotype of the microcirculation associated with clinical cardiovascular disease. These data provide further insights into the contribution and biological mechanisms of microcirculatory changes that underlie cardiovascular disease.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cardiovascular Diseases, Child, Child, Preschool, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 19, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Microcirculation, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Retinal Vessels, Young Adult}, issn = {1553-7404}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1001184}, author = {Ikram, M Kamran and Sim, Xueling and Xueling, Sim and Jensen, Richard A and Cotch, Mary Frances and Hewitt, Alex W and Ikram, M Arfan and Wang, Jie Jin and Klein, Ronald and Klein, Barbara E K and Breteler, Monique M B and Cheung, Ning and Liew, Gerald and Mitchell, Paul and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Hofman, Albert and de Jong, Paulus T V M and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Kao, Linda and Cheng, Ching-Yu and Smith, Albert Vernon and Glazer, Nicole L and Lumley, Thomas and McKnight, Barbara and Psaty, Bruce M and Jonasson, Fridbert and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Aspelund, Thor and Harris, Tamara B and Launer, Lenore J and Taylor, Kent D and Li, Xiaohui and Iyengar, Sudha K and Xi, Quansheng and Sivakumaran, Theru A and Mackey, David A and Macgregor, Stuart and Martin, Nicholas G and Young, Terri L and Bis, Josh C and Wiggins, Kerri L and Heckbert, Susan R and Hammond, Christopher J and Andrew, Toby and Fahy, Samantha and Attia, John and Holliday, Elizabeth G and Scott, Rodney J and Islam, F M Amirul and Rotter, Jerome I and McAuley, Annie K and Boerwinkle, Eric and Tai, E Shyong and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Siscovick, David S and Vingerling, Johannes R and Wong, Tien Y} } @article {1229, title = {Genetic predictors of medically refractory ulcerative colitis.}, journal = {Inflamm Bowel Dis}, volume = {16}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Nov}, pages = {1830-40}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Acute severe ulcerative colitis (UC) remains a significant clinical challenge and the ability to predict, at an early stage, those individuals at risk of colectomy for medically refractory UC (MR-UC) would be a major clinical advance. The aim of this study was to use a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in a well-characterized cohort of UC patients to identify genetic variation that contributes to MR-UC.

METHODS: A GWAS comparing 324 MR-UC patients with 537 non-MR-UC patients was analyzed using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards methods. In addition, the MR-UC patients were compared with 2601 healthy controls.

RESULTS: MR-UC was associated with more extensive disease (P = 2.7 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) and a positive family history of UC (P = 0.004). A risk score based on the combination of 46 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with MR-UC explained 48\% of the variance for colectomy risk in our cohort. Risk scores divided into quarters showed the risk of colectomy to be 0\%, 17\%, 74\%, and 100\% in the four groups. Comparison of the MR-UC subjects with healthy controls confirmed the contribution of the major histocompatibility complex to severe UC (peak association: rs17207986, P = 1.4 {\texttimes} 10(-16)) and provided genome-wide suggestive association at the TNFSF15 (TL1A) locus (peak association: rs11554257, P = 1.4 {\texttimes} 10(-6)).

CONCLUSIONS: A SNP-based risk scoring system, identified here by GWAS analyses, may provide a useful adjunct to clinical parameters for predicting the natural history of UC. Furthermore, discovery of genetic processes underlying disease severity may help to identify pathways for novel therapeutic intervention in severe UC.

}, keywords = {Acute Disease, Adolescent, Adult, Cohort Studies, Colectomy, Colitis, Ulcerative, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Major Histocompatibility Complex, Male, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Tumor Necrosis Factor Ligand Superfamily Member 15, Young Adult}, issn = {1536-4844}, doi = {10.1002/ibd.21293}, author = {Haritunians, Talin and Taylor, Kent D and Targan, Stephan R and Dubinsky, Marla and Ippoliti, Andrew and Kwon, Soonil and Guo, Xiuqing and Melmed, Gil Y and Berel, Dror and Mengesha, Emebet and Psaty, Bruce M and Glazer, Nicole L and Vasiliauskas, Eric A and Rotter, Jerome I and Fleshner, Phillip R and McGovern, Dermot P B} } @article {1192, title = {Genome-wide association identifies OBFC1 as a locus involved in human leukocyte telomere biology.}, journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A}, volume = {107}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 May 18}, pages = {9293-8}, abstract = {

Telomeres are engaged in a host of cellular functions, and their length is regulated by multiple genes. Telomere shortening, in the course of somatic cell replication, ultimately leads to replicative senescence. In humans, rare mutations in genes that regulate telomere length have been identified in monogenic diseases such as dyskeratosis congenita and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which are associated with shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and increased risk for aplastic anemia. Shortened LTL is observed in a host of aging-related complex genetic diseases and is associated with diminished survival in the elderly. We report results of a genome-wide association study of LTL in a consortium of four observational studies (n = 3,417 participants with LTL and genome-wide genotyping). SNPs in the regions of the oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding folds containing one gene (OBFC1; rs4387287; P = 3.9 x 10(-9)) and chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 gene (CXCR4; rs4452212; P = 2.9 x 10(-8)) were associated with LTL at a genome-wide significance level (P < 5 x 10(-8)). We attempted replication of the top SNPs at these loci through de novo genotyping of 1,893 additional individuals and in silico lookup in another observational study (n = 2,876), and we confirmed the association findings for OBFC1 but not CXCR4. In addition, we confirmed the telomerase RNA component (TERC) as a gene associated with LTL (P = 1.1 x 10(-5)). The identification of OBFC1 through genome-wide association as a locus for interindividual variation in LTL in the general population advances the understanding of telomere biology in humans and may provide insights into aging-related disorders linked to altered LTL dynamics.

}, keywords = {Cohort Studies, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Leukocytes, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, CXCR4, Telomere, Telomere-Binding Proteins}, issn = {1091-6490}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.0911494107}, author = {Levy, Daniel and Neuhausen, Susan L and Hunt, Steven C and Kimura, Masayuki and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Chen, Wei and Bis, Joshua C and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Smith, Erin and Johnson, Andrew D and Gardner, Jeffrey P and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Schork, Nicholas and Rotter, Jerome I and Herbig, Utz and Psaty, Bruce M and Sastrasinh, Malinee and Murray, Sarah S and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Province, Michael A and Glazer, Nicole L and Lu, Xiaobin and Cao, Xiaojian and Kronmal, Richard and Mangino, Massimo and Soranzo, Nicole and Spector, Tim D and Berenson, Gerald S and Aviv, Abraham} } @article {1187, title = {Genomic variation associated with mortality among adults of European and African ancestry with heart failure: the cohorts for heart and aging research in genomic epidemiology consortium.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {3}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Jun}, pages = {248-55}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Prognosis and survival are significant concerns for individuals with heart failure (HF). To better understand the pathophysiology of HF prognosis, the association between 2,366,858 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and all-cause mortality was evaluated among individuals with incident HF from 4 community-based prospective cohorts: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Framingham Heart Study, and the Rotterdam Study.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Participants were 2526 individuals of European ancestry and 466 individuals of African ancestry who experienced an incident HF event during follow-up in the respective cohorts. Within each study, the association between genetic variants and time to mortality among individuals with HF was assessed by Cox proportional hazards models that included adjustment for sex and age at the time of the HF event. Prospective fixed-effect meta-analyses were conducted for the 4 study populations of European ancestry (N=1645 deaths) and for the 2 populations of African ancestry (N=281 deaths). Genome-wide significance was set at P=5.0x10(-7). Meta-analytic findings among individuals of European ancestry revealed 1 genome-wide significant locus on chromosome 3p22 in an intron of CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain containing 7 (CMTM7, P=3.2x10(-7)). Eight additional loci in individuals of European ancestry and 4 loci in individuals of African ancestry were identified by high-signal SNPs (P<1.0x10(-5)) but did not meet genome-wide significance.

CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a novel locus associated with all-cause mortality among individuals of European ancestry with HF. This finding warrants additional investigation, including replication, in other studies of HF.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Chemokines, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Heart Failure, Humans, Introns, Male, MARVEL Domain-Containing Proteins, Membrane Proteins, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.109.895995}, author = {Morrison, Alanna C and Felix, Janine F and Cupples, L Adrienne and Glazer, Nicole L and Loehr, Laura R and Dehghan, Abbas and Demissie, Serkalem and Bis, Joshua C and Rosamond, Wayne D and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Wang, Ying A and Haritunians, Talin and Folsom, Aaron R and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Benjamin, Emelia J and Lumley, Thomas and Couper, David and Stricker, Bruno H and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Rice, Kenneth M and Chang, Patricia P and Hofman, Albert and Levy, Daniel and Rotter, Jerome I and Fox, Ervin R and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Wang, Thomas J and Psaty, Bruce M and Willerson, James T and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Boerwinkle, Eric and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Smith, Nicholas L} } @article {1179, title = {A meta-analysis of four genome-wide association studies of survival to age 90 years or older: the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium.}, journal = {J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci}, volume = {65}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 May}, pages = {478-87}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may yield insights into longevity.

METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of GWAS in Caucasians from four prospective cohort studies: the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Framingham Heart Study, and the Rotterdam Study participating in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. Longevity was defined as survival to age 90 years or older (n = 1,836); the comparison group comprised cohort members who died between the ages of 55 and 80 years (n = 1,955). In a second discovery stage, additional genotyping was conducted in the Leiden Longevity Study cohort and the Danish 1905 cohort.

RESULTS: There were 273 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associations with p < .0001, but none reached the prespecified significance level of 5 x 10(-8). Of the most significant SNPs, 24 were independent signals, and 16 of these SNPs were successfully genotyped in the second discovery stage, with one association for rs9664222, reaching 6.77 x 10(-7) for the combined meta-analysis of CHARGE and the stage 2 cohorts. The SNP lies in a region near MINPP1 (chromosome 10), a well-conserved gene involved in regulation of cellular proliferation. The minor allele was associated with lower odds of survival past age 90 (odds ratio = 0.82). Associations of interest in a homologue of the longevity assurance gene (LASS3) and PAPPA2 were not strengthened in the second stage.

CONCLUSION: Survival studies of larger size or more extreme or specific phenotypes may support or refine these initial findings.

}, keywords = {Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alleles, Cohort Studies, Confidence Intervals, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Longevity, Male, Middle Aged, Odds Ratio, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1758-535X}, doi = {10.1093/gerona/glq028}, author = {Newman, Anne B and Walter, Stefan and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Garcia, Melissa E and Slagboom, P Eline and Christensen, Kaare and Arnold, Alice M and Aspelund, Thor and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Benjamin, Emelia J and Christiansen, Lene and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, Ralph B and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Franceschini, Nora and Glazer, Nicole L and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Hofman, Albert and Kaplan, Robert and Karasik, David and Kelly-Hayes, Margaret and Kiel, Douglas P and Launer, Lenore J and Marciante, Kristin D and Massaro, Joseph M and Miljkovic, Iva and Nalls, Michael A and Hernandez, Dena and Psaty, Bruce M and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Rotter, Jerome and Seshadri, Sudha and Smith, Albert V and Taylor, Kent D and Tiemeier, Henning and Uh, Hae-Won and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Vaupel, James W and Walston, Jeremy and Westendorp, Rudi G J and Harris, Tamara B and Lumley, Thomas and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Murabito, Joanne M} } @article {1183, title = {New loci associated with kidney function and chronic kidney disease.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {42}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 May}, pages = {376-84}, abstract = {

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant public health problem, and recent genetic studies have identified common CKD susceptibility variants. The CKDGen consortium performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in 67,093 individuals of European ancestry from 20 predominantly population-based studies in order to identify new susceptibility loci for reduced renal function as estimated by serum creatinine (eGFRcrea), serum cystatin c (eGFRcys) and CKD (eGFRcrea < 60 ml/min/1.73 m(2); n = 5,807 individuals with CKD (cases)). Follow-up of the 23 new genome-wide-significant loci (P < 5 x 10(-8)) in 22,982 replication samples identified 13 new loci affecting renal function and CKD (in or near LASS2, GCKR, ALMS1, TFDP2, DAB2, SLC34A1, VEGFA, PRKAG2, PIP5K1B, ATXN2, DACH1, UBE2Q2 and SLC7A9) and 7 loci suspected to affect creatinine production and secretion (CPS1, SLC22A2, TMEM60, WDR37, SLC6A13, WDR72 and BCAS3). These results further our understanding of the biologic mechanisms of kidney function by identifying loci that potentially influence nephrogenesis, podocyte function, angiogenesis, solute transport and metabolic functions of the kidney.

}, keywords = {Cohort Studies, Creatinine, Cystatin C, Diet, Europe, Genetic Markers, Genome-Wide Association Study, Glomerular Filtration Rate, Humans, Kidney, Kidney Failure, Chronic, Models, Genetic, Risk Factors}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/ng.568}, author = {K{\"o}ttgen, Anna and Pattaro, Cristian and B{\"o}ger, Carsten A and Fuchsberger, Christian and Olden, Matthias and Glazer, Nicole L and Parsa, Afshin and Gao, Xiaoyi and Yang, Qiong and Smith, Albert V and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Li, Man and Schmidt, Helena and Tanaka, Toshiko and Isaacs, Aaron and Ketkar, Shamika and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Johnson, Andrew D and Dehghan, Abbas and Teumer, Alexander and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and Atkinson, Elizabeth J and Zeller, Tanja and Lohman, Kurt and Cornelis, Marilyn C and Probst-Hensch, Nicole M and Kronenberg, Florian and T{\"o}njes, Anke and Hayward, Caroline and Aspelund, Thor and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Launer, Lenore J and Harris, Tamara B and Rampersaud, Evadnie and Mitchell, Braxton D and Arking, Dan E and Boerwinkle, Eric and Struchalin, Maksim and Cavalieri, Margherita and Singleton, Andrew and Giallauria, Francesco and Metter, Jeffrey and de Boer, Ian H and Haritunians, Talin and Lumley, Thomas and Siscovick, David and Psaty, Bruce M and Zillikens, M Carola and Oostra, Ben A and Feitosa, Mary and Province, Michael and de Andrade, Mariza and Turner, Stephen T and Schillert, Arne and Ziegler, Andreas and Wild, Philipp S and Schnabel, Renate B and Wilde, Sandra and Munzel, Thomas F and Leak, Tennille S and Illig, Thomas and Klopp, Norman and Meisinger, Christa and Wichmann, H-Erich and Koenig, Wolfgang and Zgaga, Lina and Zemunik, Tatijana and Kolcic, Ivana and Minelli, Cosetta and Hu, Frank B and Johansson, Asa and Igl, Wilmar and Zaboli, Ghazal and Wild, Sarah H and Wright, Alan F and Campbell, Harry and Ellinghaus, David and Schreiber, Stefan and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Felix, Janine F and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Hofman, Albert and Imboden, Medea and Nitsch, Dorothea and Brandst{\"a}tter, Anita and Kollerits, Barbara and Kedenko, Lyudmyla and M{\"a}gi, Reedik and Stumvoll, Michael and Kovacs, Peter and Boban, Mladen and Campbell, Susan and Endlich, Karlhans and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Kroemer, Heyo K and Nauck, Matthias and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Polasek, Ozren and Vitart, Veronique and Badola, Sunita and Parker, Alexander N and Ridker, Paul M and Kardia, Sharon L R and Blankenberg, Stefan and Liu, Yongmei and Curhan, Gary C and Franke, Andre and Rochat, Thierry and Paulweber, Bernhard and Prokopenko, Inga and Wang, Wei and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Shuldiner, Alan R and Coresh, Josef and Schmidt, Reinhold and Ferrucci, Luigi and Shlipak, Michael G and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Borecki, Ingrid and Kr{\"a}mer, Bernhard K and Rudan, Igor and Gyllensten, Ulf and Wilson, James F and Witteman, Jacqueline C and Pramstaller, Peter P and Rettig, Rainer and Hastie, Nick and Chasman, Daniel I and Kao, W H and Heid, Iris M and Fox, Caroline S} } @article {1298, title = {Genome-wide association studies of cerebral white matter lesion burden: the CHARGE consortium.}, journal = {Ann Neurol}, volume = {69}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jun}, pages = {928-39}, abstract = {

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

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

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

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

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cerebral Cortex, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17, Cognition Disorders, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Leukoencephalopathies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Movement Disorders, Nerve Fibers, Myelinated, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Residence Characteristics, RNA, Messenger}, issn = {1531-8249}, doi = {10.1002/ana.22403}, author = {Fornage, Myriam and Debette, Stephanie and Bis, Joshua C and Schmidt, Helena and Ikram, M Arfan and Dufouil, Carole and Sigurdsson, Sigurdur and Lumley, Thomas and DeStefano, Anita L and Fazekas, Franz and Vrooman, Henri A and Shibata, Dean K and Maillard, Pauline and Zijdenbos, Alex and Smith, Albert V and Gudnason, Haukur and de Boer, Renske and Cushman, Mary and Mazoyer, Bernard and Heiss, Gerardo and Vernooij, Meike W and Enzinger, Christian and Glazer, Nicole L and Beiser, Alexa and Knopman, David S and Cavalieri, Margherita and Niessen, Wiro J and Harris, Tamara B and Petrovic, Katja and Lopez, Oscar L and Au, Rhoda and Lambert, Jean-Charles and Hofman, Albert and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Garcia, Melissa and Heckbert, Susan R and Atwood, Larry D and Catellier, Diane J and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Yang, Qiong and Smith, Nicholas L and Aspelund, Thor and Romero, Jose R and Rice, Kenneth and Taylor, Kent D and Nalls, Michael A and Rotter, Jerome I and Sharrett, Richey and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Amouyel, Philippe and Wolf, Philip A and Gudnason, Vilmundur and van der Lugt, Aad and Boerwinkle, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Seshadri, Sudha and Tzourio, Christophe and Breteler, Monique M B and Mosley, Thomas H and Schmidt, Reinhold and Longstreth, W T and DeCarli, Charles and Launer, Lenore J} } @article {1261, title = {A genome-wide association study identifies novel loci associated with circulating IGF-I and IGFBP-3.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {20}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Mar 15}, pages = {1241-51}, abstract = {

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) are involved in cell replication, proliferation, differentiation, protein synthesis, carbohydrate homeostasis and bone metabolism. Circulating IGF-I and IGFBP-3 concentrations predict anthropometric traits and risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. In a genome-wide association study of 10 280 middle-aged and older men and women from four community-based cohort studies, we confirmed a known association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the IGFBP3 gene region on chromosome 7p12.3 with IGFBP-3 concentrations using a significance threshold of P < 5 {\texttimes} 10(-8) (P = 3.3 {\texttimes} 10(-101)). Furthermore, the same IGFBP3 gene locus (e.g. rs11977526) that was associated with IGFBP-3 concentrations was also associated with the opposite direction of effect, with IGF-I concentration after adjustment for IGFBP-3 concentration (P = 1.9 {\texttimes} 10(-26)). A novel and independent locus on chromosome 7p12.3 (rs700752) had genome-wide significant associations with higher IGFBP-3 (P = 4.4 {\texttimes} 10(-21)) and higher IGF-I (P = 4.9 {\texttimes} 10(-9)) concentrations; when the two measurements were adjusted for one another, the IGF-I association was attenuated but the IGFBP-3 association was not. Two additional loci demonstrated genome-wide significant associations with IGFBP-3 concentration (rs1065656, chromosome 16p13.3, P = 1.2 {\texttimes} 10(-11), IGFALS, a confirmatory finding; and rs4234798, chromosome 4p16.1, P = 4.5 {\texttimes} 10(-10), SORCS2, a novel finding). Together, the four genome-wide significant loci explained 6.5\% of the population variation in IGFBP-3 concentration. Furthermore, we observed a borderline statistically significant association between IGF-I concentration and FOXO3 (rs2153960, chromosome 6q21, P = 5.1 {\texttimes} 10(-7)), a locus associated with longevity. These genetic loci deserve further investigation to elucidate the biological basis for the observed associations and clarify their possible role in IGF-mediated regulation of cell growth and metabolism.

}, keywords = {Aged, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7, Cohort Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Male, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddq560}, author = {Kaplan, Robert C and Petersen, Ann-Kristin and Chen, Ming-Huei and Teumer, Alexander and Glazer, Nicole L and D{\"o}ring, Angela and Lam, Carolyn S P and Friedrich, Nele and Newman, Anne and M{\"u}ller, Martina and Yang, Qiong and Homuth, Georg and Cappola, Anne and Klopp, Norman and Smith, Holly and Ernst, Florian and Psaty, Bruce M and Wichmann, H-Erich and Sawyer, Douglas B and Biffar, Reiner and Rotter, Jerome I and Gieger, Christian and Sullivan, Lisa S and V{\"o}lzke, Henry and Rice, Kenneth and Spyroglou, Ariadni and Kroemer, Heyo K and Ida Chen, Y-D and Manolopoulou, Jenny and Nauck, Matthias and Strickler, Howard D and Goodarzi, Mark O and Reincke, Martin and Pollak, Michael N and Bidlingmaier, Martin and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Wallaschofski, Henri} } @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 {6029, title = {A genome-wide association study for venous thromboembolism: the extended cohorts for heart and aging research in genomic epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.}, journal = {Genet Epidemiol}, volume = {37}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Jul}, pages = {512-521}, abstract = {

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common, heritable disease resulting in high rates of hospitalization and mortality. Yet few associations between VTE and genetic variants, all in the coagulation pathway, have been established. To identify additional genetic determinants of VTE, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) among individuals of European ancestry in the extended cohorts for heart and aging research in genomic epidemiology (CHARGE) VTE consortium. The discovery GWAS comprised 1,618 incident VTE cases out of 44,499 participants from six community-based studies. Genotypes for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were imputed to approximately 2.5 million SNPs in HapMap and association with VTE assessed using study-design appropriate regression methods. Meta-analysis of these results identified two known loci, in F5 and ABO. Top 1,047 tag SNPs (P <= 0.0016) from the discovery GWAS were tested for association in an additional 3,231 cases and 3,536 controls from three case-control studies. In the combined data from these two stages, additional genome-wide significant associations were observed on 4q35 at F11 (top SNP rs4253399, intronic to F11) and on 4q28 at FGG (rs6536024, 9.7 kb from FGG; P < 5.0 {\texttimes} 10(-13) for both). The associations at the FGG locus were not completely explained by previously reported variants. Loci at or near SUSD1 and OTUD7A showed borderline yet novel associations (P < 5.0 {\texttimes} 10(-6) ) and constitute new candidate genes. In conclusion, this large GWAS replicated key genetic associations in F5 and ABO, and confirmed the importance of F11 and FGG loci for VTE. Future studies are warranted to better characterize the associations with F11 and FGG and to replicate the new candidate associations.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aging, Case-Control Studies, Cohort Studies, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, Venous Thromboembolism}, issn = {1098-2272}, doi = {10.1002/gepi.21731}, author = {Tang, Weihong and Teichert, Martina and Chasman, Daniel I and Heit, John A and Morange, Pierre-Emmanuel and Li, Guo and Pankratz, Nathan and Leebeek, Frank W and Par{\'e}, Guillaume and de Andrade, Mariza and Tzourio, Christophe and Psaty, Bruce M and Basu, Saonli and Ruiter, Rikje and Rose, Lynda and Armasu, Sebastian M and Lumley, Thomas and Heckbert, Susan R and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Lathrop, Mark and Rice, Kenneth M and Cushman, Mary and Hofman, Albert and Lambert, Jean-Charles and Glazer, Nicole L and Pankow, James S and Witteman, Jacqueline C and Amouyel, Philippe and Bis, Joshua C and Bovill, Edwin G and Kong, Xiaoxiao and Tracy, Russell P and Boerwinkle, Eric and Rotter, Jerome I and Tr{\'e}gou{\"e}t, David-Alexandre and Loth, Daan W and Stricker, Bruno H Ch and Ridker, Paul M and Folsom, Aaron R and Smith, Nicholas L} } @article {6632, title = {Genome-wide association study of cardiac structure and systolic function in African Americans: the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) study.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {6}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Feb}, pages = {37-46}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Using data from 4 community-based cohorts of African Americans, we tested the association between genome-wide markers (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) and cardiac phenotypes in the Candidate-gene Association Resource study.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Among 6765 African Americans, we related age, sex, height, and weight-adjusted residuals for 9 cardiac phenotypes (assessed by echocardiogram or magnetic resonance imaging) to 2.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms genotyped using Genome-wide Affymetrix Human SNP Array 6.0 (Affy6.0) and the remainder imputed. Within the cohort, genome-wide association analysis was conducted, followed by meta-analysis across cohorts using inverse variance weights (genome-wide significance threshold=4.0 {\texttimes}10(-7)). Supplementary pathway analysis was performed. We attempted replication in 3 smaller cohorts of African ancestry and tested lookups in 1 consortium of European ancestry (EchoGEN). Across the 9 phenotypes, variants in 4 genetic loci reached genome-wide significance: rs4552931 in UBE2V2 (P=1.43{\texttimes}10(-7)) for left ventricular mass, rs7213314 in WIPI1 (P=1.68{\texttimes}10(-7)) for left ventricular internal diastolic diameter, rs1571099 in PPAPDC1A (P=2.57{\texttimes}10(-8)) for interventricular septal wall thickness, and rs9530176 in KLF5 (P=4.02{\texttimes}10(-7)) for ejection fraction. Associated variants were enriched in 3 signaling pathways involved in cardiac remodeling. None of the 4 loci replicated in cohorts of African ancestry was confirmed in lookups in EchoGEN.

CONCLUSIONS: In the largest genome-wide association study of cardiac structure and function to date in African Americans, we identified 4 genetic loci related to left ventricular mass, interventricular septal wall thickness, left ventricular internal diastolic diameter, and ejection fraction, which reached genome-wide significance. Replication results suggest that these loci may be unique to individuals of African ancestry. Additional large-scale studies are warranted for these complex phenotypes.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Cohort Studies, Diastole, Echocardiography, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Heart, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Systole}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.111.962365}, author = {Fox, Ervin R and Musani, Solomon K and Barbalic, Maja and Lin, Honghuang and Yu, Bing and Ogunyankin, Kofo O and Smith, Nicholas L and Kutlar, Abdullah and Glazer, Nicole L and Post, Wendy S and Paltoo, Dina N and Dries, Daniel L and Farlow, Deborah N and Duarte, Christine W and Kardia, Sharon L and Meyers, Kristin J and Sun, Yan V and Arnett, Donna K and Patki, Amit A and Sha, Jin and Cui, Xiangqui and Samdarshi, Tandaw E and Penman, Alan D and Bibbins-Domingo, Kirsten and B{\r u}zkov{\'a}, Petra and Benjamin, Emelia J and Bluemke, David A and Morrison, Alanna C and Heiss, Gerardo and Carr, J Jeffrey and Tracy, Russell P and Mosley, Thomas H and Taylor, Herman A and Psaty, Bruce M and Heckbert, Susan R and Cappola, Thomas P and Vasan, Ramachandran S} } @article {6819, title = {Genome-wide association study of L-arginine and dimethylarginines reveals novel metabolic pathway for symmetric dimethylarginine.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {7}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Dec}, pages = {864-72}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Dimethylarginines (DMA) interfere with nitric oxide formation by inhibiting nitric oxide synthase (asymmetrical DMA [ADMA]) and l-arginine uptake into the cell (ADMA and symmetrical DMA [SDMA]). In prospective clinical studies, ADMA has been characterized as a cardiovascular risk marker, whereas SDMA is a novel marker for renal function and associated with all-cause mortality after ischemic stroke. The aim of the current study was to characterize the environmental and genetic contributions to interindividual variability of these biomarkers.

METHODS AND RESULTS: This study comprised a genome-wide association analysis of 3 well-characterized population-based cohorts (Framingham Heart Study [FHS; n=2992], Gutenberg Health Study [GHS; n=4354], and Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease Study [MONICA]/Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg Area, Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany [KORA] F3 [n=581]) and identified replicated loci (DDAH1, MED23, Arg1, and AGXT2) associated with the interindividual variability in ADMA, l-arginine, and SDMA. Experimental in silico and in vitro studies confirmed functional significance of the identified AGXT2 variants. Clinical outcome analysis in 384 patients of the Leeds stroke study demonstrated an association between increased plasma levels of SDMA, AGXT2 variants, and various cardiometabolic risk factors. AGXT2 variants were not associated with poststroke survival in the Leeds study or were they associated with incident stroke in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.

CONCLUSIONS: These genome-wide association study support the importance of DDAH1 and MED23/Arg1 in regulating ADMA and l-arginine metabolism, respectively, and identify a novel regulatory renal pathway for SDMA by AGXT2. AGXT2 variants might explain part of the pathogenic link between SDMA, renal function, and outcome. An association between AGXT2 variants and stroke is unclear and warrants further investigation.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Amidohydrolases, Arginine, Binding Sites, Cohort Studies, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, HEK293 Cells, Humans, Male, Mediator Complex, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Risk Factors, Stroke, Substrate Specificity, Transaminases}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.113.000264}, author = {L{\"u}neburg, Nicole and Lieb, Wolfgang and Zeller, Tanja and Chen, Ming-Huei and Maas, Renke and Carter, Angela M and Xanthakis, Vanessa and Glazer, Nicole L and Schwedhelm, Edzard and Seshadri, Sudha and Ikram, Mohammad Arfan and Longstreth, William T and Fornage, Myriam and K{\"o}nig, Inke R and Loley, Christina and Ojeda, Francisco M and Schillert, Arne and Wang, Thomas J and Sticht, Heinrich and Kittel, Anja and K{\"o}nig, J{\"o}rg and Benjamin, Emelia J and Sullivan, Lisa M and Bernges, Isabel and Anderssohn, Maike and Ziegler, Andreas and Gieger, Christian and Illig, Thomas and Meisinger, Christa and Wichmann, H-Erich and Wild, Philipp S and Schunkert, Heribert and Psaty, Bruce M and Wiggins, Kerri L and Heckbert, Susan R and Smith, Nicholas and Lackner, Karl and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Blankenberg, Stefan and Erdmann, Jeanette and M{\"u}nzel, Thomas and Grant, Peter J and Vasan, Ramachandran S and B{\"o}ger, Rainer H} }