@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 {1101, title = {Predicting risk of dementia in older adults: The late-life dementia risk index.}, journal = {Neurology}, volume = {73}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Jul 21}, pages = {173-9}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To develop a late-life dementia risk index that can accurately stratify older adults into those with a low, moderate, or high risk of developing dementia within 6 years.

METHODS: Subjects were 3,375 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study without evidence of dementia at baseline. We used logistic regression to identify those factors most predictive of developing incident dementia within 6 years and developed a point system based on the logistic regression coefficients.

RESULTS: Subjects had a mean age of 76 years at baseline; 59\% were women and 15\% were African American. Fourteen percent (n = 480) developed dementia within 6 years. The final late-life dementia risk index included older age (1-2 points), poor cognitive test performance (2-4 points), body mass index <18.5 (2 points), > or =1 apolipoprotein E epsilon4 alleles (1 point), cerebral MRI findings of white matter disease (1 point) or ventricular enlargement (1 point), internal carotid artery thickening on ultrasound (1 point), history of bypass surgery (1 point), slow physical performance (1 point), and lack of alcohol consumption (1 point) (c statistic, 0.81; 95\% confidence interval, 0.79-0.83). Four percent of subjects with low scores developed dementia over 6 years compared with 23\% of subjects with moderate scores and 56\% of subjects with high scores.

CONCLUSIONS: The late-life dementia risk index accurately stratified older adults into those with low, moderate, and high risk of developing dementia. This tool could be used in clinical or research settings to target prevention and intervention strategies toward high-risk individuals.

}, keywords = {Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alcohol Drinking, Apolipoprotein E4, Body Mass Index, Carotid Stenosis, Cerebrum, Cognition Disorders, Cohort Studies, Coronary Artery Bypass, Dementia, Female, Genetic Markers, Health Status Indicators, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Predictive Value of Tests, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Risk Reduction Behavior}, issn = {1526-632X}, doi = {10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181a81636}, author = {Barnes, D E and Covinsky, K E and Whitmer, R A and Kuller, L H and Lopez, O L and Yaffe, K} } @article {1171, title = {Bayesian methods for meta-analysis of causal relationships estimated using genetic instrumental variables.}, journal = {Stat Med}, volume = {29}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 May 30}, pages = {1298-311}, abstract = {

Genetic markers can be used as instrumental variables, in an analogous way to randomization in a clinical trial, to estimate the causal relationship between a phenotype and an outcome variable. Our purpose is to extend the existing methods for such Mendelian randomization studies to the context of multiple genetic markers measured in multiple studies, based on the analysis of individual participant data. First, for a single genetic marker in one study, we show that the usual ratio of coefficients approach can be reformulated as a regression with heterogeneous error in the explanatory variable. This can be implemented using a Bayesian approach, which is next extended to include multiple genetic markers. We then propose a hierarchical model for undertaking a meta-analysis of multiple studies, in which it is not necessary that the same genetic markers are measured in each study. This provides an overall estimate of the causal relationship between the phenotype and the outcome, and an assessment of its heterogeneity across studies. As an example, we estimate the causal relationship of blood concentrations of C-reactive protein on fibrinogen levels using data from 11 studies. These methods provide a flexible framework for efficient estimation of causal relationships derived from multiple studies. Issues discussed include weak instrument bias, analysis of binary outcome data such as disease risk, missing genetic data, and the use of haplotypes.

}, keywords = {Bayes Theorem, Biostatistics, C-Reactive Protein, Fibrinogen, Genetic Markers, Humans, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Models, Statistical, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1097-0258}, doi = {10.1002/sim.3843}, author = {Burgess, Stephen and Thompson, Simon G and Burgess, S and Thompson, S G and Andrews, G and Samani, N J and Hall, A and Whincup, P and Morris, R and Lawlor, D A and Davey Smith, G and Timpson, N and Ebrahim, S and Ben-Shlomo, Y and Davey Smith, G and Timpson, N and Brown, M and Ricketts, S and Sandhu, M and Reiner, A and Psaty, B and Lange, L and Cushman, M and Hung, J and Thompson, P and Beilby, J and Warrington, N and Palmer, L J and Nordestgaard, B G and Tybjaerg-Hansen, A and Zacho, J and Wu, C and Lowe, G and Tzoulaki, I and Kumari, M and Sandhu, M and Yamamoto, J F and Chiodini, B and Franzosi, M and Hankey, G J and Jamrozik, K and Palmer, L and Rimm, E and Pai, J and Psaty, B and Heckbert, S and Bis, J and Anand, S and Engert, J and Collins, R and Clarke, R and Melander, O and Berglund, G and Ladenvall, P and Johansson, L and Jansson, J-H and Hallmans, G and Hingorani, A and Humphries, S and Rimm, E and Manson, J and Pai, J and Watkins, H and Clarke, R and Hopewell, J and Saleheen, D and Frossard, R and Danesh, J and Sattar, N and Robertson, M and Shepherd, J and Schaefer, E and Hofman, A and Witteman, J C M and Kardys, I and Ben-Shlomo, Y and Davey Smith, G and Timpson, N and de Faire, U and Bennet, A and Sattar, N and Ford, I and Packard, C and Kumari, M and Manson, J and Lawlor, Debbie A and Davey Smith, George and Anand, S and Collins, R and Casas, J P and Danesh, J and Davey Smith, G and Franzosi, M and Hingorani, A and Lawlor, D A and Manson, J and Nordestgaard, B G and Samani, N J and Sandhu, M and Smeeth, L and Wensley, F and Anand, S and Bowden, J and Burgess, S and Casas, J P and Di Angelantonio, E and Engert, J and Gao, P and Shah, T and Smeeth, L and Thompson, S G and Verzilli, C and Walker, M and Whittaker, J and Hingorani, A and Danesh, J} } @article {1218, title = {Genetic ancestry in lung-function predictions.}, journal = {N Engl J Med}, volume = {363}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Jul 22}, pages = {321-30}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Self-identified race or ethnic group is used to determine normal reference standards in the prediction of pulmonary function. We conducted a study to determine whether the genetically determined percentage of African ancestry is associated with lung function and whether its use could improve predictions of lung function among persons who identified themselves as African American.

METHODS: We assessed the ancestry of 777 participants self-identified as African American in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study and evaluated the relation between pulmonary function and ancestry by means of linear regression. We performed similar analyses of data for two independent cohorts of subjects identifying themselves as African American: 813 participants in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (HABC) study and 579 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). We compared the fit of two types of models to lung-function measurements: models based on the covariates used in standard prediction equations and models incorporating ancestry. We also evaluated the effect of the ancestry-based models on the classification of disease severity in two asthma-study populations.

RESULTS: African ancestry was inversely related to forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) and forced vital capacity in the CARDIA cohort. These relations were also seen in the HABC and CHS cohorts. In predicting lung function, the ancestry-based model fit the data better than standard models. Ancestry-based models resulted in the reclassification of asthma severity (based on the percentage of the predicted FEV(1)) in 4 to 5\% of participants.

CONCLUSIONS: Current predictive equations, which rely on self-identified race alone, may misestimate lung function among subjects who identify themselves as African American. Incorporating ancestry into normative equations may improve lung-function estimates and more accurately categorize disease severity. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.)

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Forced Expiratory Volume, Genetic Markers, Genotype, Humans, Linear Models, Male, Middle Aged, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Reference Values, Respiratory Function Tests, Vital Capacity, Young Adult}, issn = {1533-4406}, doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa0907897}, author = {Kumar, Rajesh and Seibold, Max A and Aldrich, Melinda C and Williams, L Keoki and Reiner, Alex P and Colangelo, Laura and Galanter, Joshua and Gignoux, Christopher and Hu, Donglei and Sen, Saunak and Choudhry, Shweta and Peterson, Edward L and Rodriguez-Santana, Jose and Rodriguez-Cintron, William and Nalls, Michael A and Leak, Tennille S and O{\textquoteright}Meara, Ellen and Meibohm, Bernd and Kritchevsky, Stephen B and Li, Rongling and Harris, Tamara B and Nickerson, Deborah A and Fornage, Myriam and Enright, Paul and Ziv, Elad and Smith, Lewis J and Liu, Kiang and Burchard, Esteban Gonz{\'a}lez} } @article {1156, title = {Genome-wide association studies of MRI-defined brain infarcts: meta-analysis from the CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {Stroke}, volume = {41}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Feb}, pages = {210-7}, abstract = {

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

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

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

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

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Brain, Brain Infarction, Cohort Studies, DNA Mutational Analysis, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Testing, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Linkage Disequilibrium, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Prospective Studies}, issn = {1524-4628}, doi = {10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.569194}, author = {Debette, Stephanie and Bis, Joshua C and Fornage, Myriam and Schmidt, Helena and Ikram, M Arfan and Sigurdsson, Sigurdur and Heiss, Gerardo and Struchalin, Maksim and Smith, Albert V and van der Lugt, Aad and DeCarli, Charles and Lumley, Thomas and Knopman, David S and Enzinger, Christian and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Koudstaal, Peter J and DeStefano, Anita L and Psaty, Bruce M and Dufouil, Carole and Catellier, Diane J and Fazekas, Franz and Aspelund, Thor and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Beiser, Alexa and Rotter, Jerome I and Tzourio, Christophe and Shibata, Dean K and Tscherner, Maria and Harris, Tamara B and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Atwood, Larry D and Rice, Kenneth and Gottesman, Rebecca F and van Buchem, Mark A and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Kelly-Hayes, Margaret and Cushman, Mary and Zhu, Yicheng and Boerwinkle, Eric and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Hofman, Albert and Romero, Jose R and Lopez, Oscar and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Au, Rhoda and Heckbert, Susan R and Wolf, Philip A and Mosley, Thomas H and Seshadri, Sudha and Breteler, Monique M B and Schmidt, Reinhold and Launer, Lenore J and Longstreth, W T} } @article {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 {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 {6569, title = {Association between alcohol and cardiovascular disease: Mendelian randomisation analysis based on individual participant data.}, journal = {BMJ}, volume = {349}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jul 10}, pages = {g4164}, abstract = {

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

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

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

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

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

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

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Alcohol Dehydrogenase, Alcohol Drinking, Biomarkers, Coronary Disease, Female, Genetic Markers, Genotype, Humans, Male, Mendelian Randomization Analysis, Middle Aged, Models, Statistical, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Stroke}, issn = {1756-1833}, doi = {10.1136/bmj.g4164}, author = {Holmes, Michael V and Dale, Caroline E and Zuccolo, Luisa and Silverwood, Richard J and Guo, Yiran and Ye, Zheng and Prieto-Merino, David and Dehghan, Abbas and Trompet, Stella and Wong, Andrew and Cavadino, Alana and Drogan, Dagmar and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Li, Shanshan and Yesupriya, Ajay and Leusink, Maarten and Sundstr{\"o}m, Johan and Hubacek, Jaroslav A and Pikhart, Hynek and Swerdlow, Daniel I and Panayiotou, Andrie G and Borinskaya, Svetlana A and Finan, Chris and Shah, Sonia and Kuchenbaecker, Karoline B and Shah, Tina and Engmann, Jorgen and Folkersen, Lasse and Eriksson, Per and Ricceri, Fulvio and Melander, Olle and Sacerdote, Carlotta and Gamble, Dale M and Rayaprolu, Sruti and Ross, Owen A and McLachlan, Stela and Vikhireva, Olga and Sluijs, Ivonne and Scott, Robert A and Adamkova, Vera and Flicker, Leon and Bockxmeer, Frank M van and Power, Christine and Marques-Vidal, Pedro and Meade, Tom and Marmot, Michael G and Ferro, Jose M and Paulos-Pinheiro, Sofia and Humphries, Steve E and Talmud, Philippa J and Mateo Leach, Irene and Verweij, Niek and Linneberg, Allan and Skaaby, Tea and Doevendans, Pieter A and Cramer, Maarten J and van der Harst, Pim and Klungel, Olaf H and Dowling, Nicole F and Dominiczak, Anna F and Kumari, Meena and Nicolaides, Andrew N and Weikert, Cornelia and Boeing, Heiner and Ebrahim, Shah and Gaunt, Tom R and Price, Jackie F and Lannfelt, Lars and Peasey, Anne and Kubinova, Ruzena and Pajak, Andrzej and Malyutina, Sofia and Voevoda, Mikhail I and Tamosiunas, Abdonas and Maitland-van der Zee, Anke H and Norman, Paul E and Hankey, Graeme J and Bergmann, Manuela M and Hofman, Albert and Franco, Oscar H and Cooper, Jackie and Palmen, Jutta and Spiering, Wilko and de Jong, Pim A and Kuh, Diana and Hardy, Rebecca and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Ikram, M Arfan and Ford, Ian and Hypp{\"o}nen, Elina and Almeida, Osvaldo P and Wareham, Nicholas J and Khaw, Kay-Tee and Hamsten, Anders and Husemoen, Lise Lotte N and Tj{\o}nneland, Anne and Tolstrup, Janne S and Rimm, Eric and Beulens, Joline W J and Verschuren, W M Monique and Onland-Moret, N Charlotte and Hofker, Marten H and Wannamethee, S Goya and Whincup, Peter H and Morris, Richard and Vicente, Astrid M and Watkins, Hugh and Farrall, Martin and Jukema, J Wouter and Meschia, James and Cupples, L Adrienne and Sharp, Stephen J and Fornage, Myriam and Kooperberg, Charles and LaCroix, Andrea Z and Dai, James Y and Lanktree, Matthew B and Siscovick, David S and Jorgenson, Eric and Spring, Bonnie and Coresh, Josef and Li, Yun R and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Schreiner, Pamela J and Ellison, R Curtis and Tsai, Michael Y and Patel, Sanjay R and Redline, Susan and Johnson, Andrew D and Hoogeveen, Ron C and Hakonarson, Hakon and Rotter, Jerome I and Boerwinkle, Eric and de Bakker, Paul I W and Kivimaki, Mika and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Sattar, Naveed and Lawlor, Debbie A and Whittaker, John and Davey Smith, George and Mukamal, Kenneth and Psaty, Bruce M and Wilson, James G and Lange, Leslie A and Hamidovic, Ajna and Hingorani, Aroon D and Nordestgaard, B{\o}rge G and Bobak, Martin and Leon, David A and Langenberg, Claudia and Palmer, Tom M and Reiner, Alex P and Keating, Brendan J and Dudbridge, Frank and Casas, Juan P} } @article {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 {8555, title = {Phenotype-Specific Association of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms with Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction: a Genome-Wide Association Analysis of the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {J Cardiovasc Transl Res}, volume = {10}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jun}, pages = {285-294}, abstract = {

Little is known about genetics of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in part because of the many comorbidities in this population. To identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with HFpEF, we analyzed phenotypic and genotypic data from the Cardiovascular Health Study, which profiled patients using a 50,000 SNP array. Results were explored using novel SNP- and gene-centric tools. We performed analyses to determine whether some SNPs were relevant only in certain phenotypes. Among 3804 patients, 7 clinical factors and 9 SNPs were significantly associated with HFpEF; the most notable of which was rs6996224, a SNP associated with transforming growth factor-beta receptor 3. Most SNPs were associated with HFpEF only in the absence of a clinical predictor. Significant SNPs represented genes involved in myocyte proliferation, transforming growth factor-beta/erbB signaling, and extracellular matrix formation. These findings suggest that genetic factors may be more important in some phenotypes than others.

}, keywords = {Aged, Computational Biology, Databases, Genetic, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Expression Profiling, Genetic Markers, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Heart Failure, Humans, Male, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Predictive Value of Tests, Prognosis, Proteoglycans, Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Stroke Volume, United States}, issn = {1937-5395}, doi = {10.1007/s12265-017-9729-1}, author = {Kao, David P and Stevens, Laura M and Hinterberg, Michael A and G{\"o}rg, Carsten} } @article {7921, title = {FastSKAT: Sequence kernel association tests for very large sets of markers.}, journal = {Genet Epidemiol}, volume = {42}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 09}, pages = {516-527}, abstract = {

The sequence kernel association test (SKAT) is widely used to test for associations between a phenotype and a set of genetic variants that are usually rare. Evaluating tail probabilities or quantiles of the null distribution for SKAT requires computing the eigenvalues of a matrix related to the genotype covariance between markers. Extracting the full set of eigenvalues of this matrix (an n{\texttimes}n matrix, for n subjects) has computational complexity proportional to n . As SKAT is often used when n104 , this step becomes a major bottleneck in its use in practice. We therefore propose fastSKAT, a new computationally inexpensive but accurate approximations to the tail probabilities, in which the k largest eigenvalues of a weighted genotype covariance matrix or the largest singular values of a weighted genotype matrix are extracted, and a single term based on the Satterthwaite approximation is used for the remaining eigenvalues. While the method is not particularly sensitive to the choice of k, we also describe how to choose its value, and show how fastSKAT can automatically alert users to the rare cases where the choice may affect results. As well as providing faster implementation of SKAT, the new method also enables entirely new applications of SKAT that were not possible before; we give examples grouping variants by topologically associating domains, and comparing chromosome-wide association by class of histone marker.

}, keywords = {Algorithms, Chromosomes, Human, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Markers, Histones, Humans, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Statistics as Topic, Time Factors}, issn = {1098-2272}, doi = {10.1002/gepi.22136}, author = {Lumley, Thomas and Brody, Jennifer and Peloso, Gina and Morrison, Alanna and Rice, Kenneth} }