TY - JOUR T1 - Genetic loci for retinal arteriolar microcirculation. JF - PLoS One Y1 - 2013 A1 - Sim, Xueling A1 - Jensen, Richard A A1 - Ikram, M Kamran A1 - Cotch, Mary Frances A1 - Li, Xiaohui A1 - Macgregor, Stuart A1 - Xie, Jing A1 - Smith, Albert Vernon A1 - Boerwinkle, Eric A1 - Mitchell, Paul A1 - Klein, Ronald A1 - Klein, Barbara E K A1 - Glazer, Nicole L A1 - Lumley, Thomas A1 - McKnight, Barbara A1 - Psaty, Bruce M A1 - de Jong, Paulus T V M A1 - Hofman, Albert A1 - Rivadeneira, Fernando A1 - Uitterlinden, André G A1 - van Duijn, Cornelia M A1 - Aspelund, Thor A1 - Eiriksdottir, Gudny A1 - Harris, Tamara B A1 - Jonasson, Fridbert A1 - Launer, Lenore J A1 - Attia, John A1 - Baird, Paul N A1 - Harrap, Stephen A1 - Holliday, Elizabeth G A1 - Inouye, Michael A1 - Rochtchina, Elena A1 - Scott, Rodney J A1 - Viswanathan, Ananth A1 - Li, Guo A1 - Smith, Nicholas L A1 - Wiggins, Kerri L A1 - Kuo, Jane Z A1 - Taylor, Kent D A1 - Hewitt, Alex W A1 - Martin, Nicholas G A1 - Montgomery, Grant W A1 - Sun, Cong A1 - Young, Terri L A1 - Mackey, David A A1 - van Zuydam, Natalie R A1 - Doney, Alex S F A1 - Palmer, Colin N A A1 - Morris, Andrew D A1 - Rotter, Jerome I A1 - Tai, E Shyong A1 - Gudnason, Vilmundur A1 - Vingerling, Johannes R A1 - Siscovick, David S A1 - Wang, Jie Jin A1 - Wong, Tien Y KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Arterioles KW - Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5 KW - European Continental Ancestry Group KW - Female KW - Genetic Loci KW - Genome-Wide Association Study KW - Genotype KW - Humans KW - Male KW - MEF2 Transcription Factors KW - Microcirculation KW - Middle Aged KW - Models, Genetic KW - Retinal Vessels AB -

Narrow arterioles in the retina have been shown to predict hypertension as well as other vascular diseases, likely through an increase in the peripheral resistance of the microcirculatory flow. In this study, we performed a genome-wide association study in 18,722 unrelated individuals of European ancestry from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology consortium and the Blue Mountain Eye Study, to identify genetic determinants associated with variations in retinal arteriolar caliber. Retinal vascular calibers were measured on digitized retinal photographs using a standardized protocol. One variant (rs2194025 on chromosome 5q14 near the myocyte enhancer factor 2C MEF2C gene) was associated with retinal arteriolar caliber in the meta-analysis of the discovery cohorts at genome-wide significance of P-value <5×10(-8). This variant was replicated in an additional 3,939 individuals of European ancestry from the Australian Twins Study and Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (rs2194025, P-value = 2.11×10(-12) in combined meta-analysis of discovery and replication cohorts). In independent studies of modest sample sizes, no significant association was found between this variant and clinical outcomes including coronary artery disease, stroke, myocardial infarction or hypertension. In conclusion, we found one novel loci which underlie genetic variation in microvasculature which may be relevant to vascular disease. The relevance of these findings to clinical outcomes remains to be determined.

VL - 8 IS - 6 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23776548?dopt=Abstract ER -