%0 Journal Article %J Nature %D 2011 %T Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. %A Ehret, Georg B %A Munroe, Patricia B %A Rice, Kenneth M %A Bochud, Murielle %A Johnson, Andrew D %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Smith, Albert V %A Tobin, Martin D %A Verwoert, Germaine C %A Hwang, Shih-Jen %A Pihur, Vasyl %A Vollenweider, Peter %A O'Reilly, Paul F %A Amin, Najaf %A Bragg-Gresham, Jennifer L %A Teumer, Alexander %A Glazer, Nicole L %A Launer, Lenore %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Aulchenko, Yurii %A Heath, Simon %A Sõber, Siim %A Parsa, Afshin %A Luan, Jian'an %A Arora, Pankaj %A Dehghan, Abbas %A Zhang, Feng %A Lucas, Gavin %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Jackson, Anne U %A Peden, John F %A Tanaka, Toshiko %A Wild, Sarah H %A Rudan, Igor %A Igl, Wilmar %A Milaneschi, Yuri %A Parker, Alex N %A Fava, Cristiano %A Chambers, John C %A Fox, Ervin R %A Kumari, Meena %A Go, Min Jin %A van der Harst, Pim %A Kao, Wen Hong Linda %A Sjögren, Marketa %A Vinay, D G %A Alexander, Myriam %A Tabara, Yasuharu %A Shaw-Hawkins, Sue %A Whincup, Peter H %A Liu, Yongmei %A Shi, Gang %A Kuusisto, Johanna %A Tayo, Bamidele %A Seielstad, Mark %A Sim, Xueling %A Nguyen, Khanh-Dung Hoang %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Matullo, Giuseppe %A Wu, Ying %A Gaunt, Tom R %A Onland-Moret, N Charlotte %A Cooper, Matthew N %A Platou, Carl G P %A Org, Elin %A Hardy, Rebecca %A Dahgam, Santosh %A Palmen, Jutta %A Vitart, Veronique %A Braund, Peter S %A Kuznetsova, Tatiana %A Uiterwaal, Cuno S P M %A Adeyemo, Adebowale %A Palmas, Walter %A Campbell, Harry %A Ludwig, Barbara %A Tomaszewski, Maciej %A Tzoulaki, Ioanna %A Palmer, Nicholette D %A Aspelund, Thor %A Garcia, Melissa %A Chang, Yen-Pei C %A O'Connell, Jeffrey R %A Steinle, Nanette I %A Grobbee, Diederick E %A Arking, Dan E %A Kardia, Sharon L %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Hernandez, Dena %A Najjar, Samer %A McArdle, Wendy L %A Hadley, David %A Brown, Morris J %A Connell, John M %A Hingorani, Aroon D %A Day, Ian N M %A Lawlor, Debbie A %A Beilby, John P %A Lawrence, Robert W %A Clarke, Robert %A Hopewell, Jemma C %A Ongen, Halit %A Dreisbach, Albert W %A Li, Yali %A Young, J Hunter %A Bis, Joshua C %A Kähönen, Mika %A Viikari, Jorma %A Adair, Linda S %A Lee, Nanette R %A Chen, Ming-Huei %A Olden, Matthias %A Pattaro, Cristian %A Bolton, Judith A Hoffman %A Köttgen, Anna %A Bergmann, Sven %A Mooser, Vincent %A Chaturvedi, Nish %A Frayling, Timothy M %A Islam, Muhammad %A Jafar, Tazeen H %A Erdmann, Jeanette %A Kulkarni, Smita R %A Bornstein, Stefan R %A Grässler, Jürgen %A Groop, Leif %A Voight, Benjamin F %A Kettunen, Johannes %A Howard, Philip %A Taylor, Andrew %A Guarrera, Simonetta %A Ricceri, Fulvio %A Emilsson, Valur %A Plump, Andrew %A Barroso, Inês %A Khaw, Kay-Tee %A Weder, Alan B %A Hunt, Steven C %A Sun, Yan V %A Bergman, Richard N %A Collins, Francis S %A Bonnycastle, Lori L %A Scott, Laura J %A Stringham, Heather M %A Peltonen, Leena %A Perola, Markus %A Vartiainen, Erkki %A Brand, Stefan-Martin %A Staessen, Jan A %A Wang, Thomas J %A Burton, Paul R %A Soler Artigas, Maria %A Dong, Yanbin %A Snieder, Harold %A Wang, Xiaoling %A Zhu, Haidong %A Lohman, Kurt K %A Rudock, Megan E %A Heckbert, Susan R %A Smith, Nicholas L %A Wiggins, Kerri L %A Doumatey, Ayo %A Shriner, Daniel %A Veldre, Gudrun %A Viigimaa, Margus %A Kinra, Sanjay %A Prabhakaran, Dorairaj %A Tripathy, Vikal %A Langefeld, Carl D %A Rosengren, Annika %A Thelle, Dag S %A Corsi, Anna Maria %A Singleton, Andrew %A Forrester, Terrence %A Hilton, Gina %A McKenzie, Colin A %A Salako, Tunde %A Iwai, Naoharu %A Kita, Yoshikuni %A Ogihara, Toshio %A Ohkubo, Takayoshi %A Okamura, Tomonori %A Ueshima, Hirotsugu %A Umemura, Satoshi %A Eyheramendy, Susana %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Wichmann, H-Erich %A Cho, Yoon Shin %A Kim, Hyung-Lae %A Lee, Jong-Young %A Scott, James %A Sehmi, Joban S %A Zhang, Weihua %A Hedblad, Bo %A Nilsson, Peter %A Smith, George Davey %A Wong, Andrew %A Narisu, Narisu %A Stančáková, Alena %A Raffel, Leslie J %A Yao, Jie %A Kathiresan, Sekar %A O'Donnell, Christopher J %A Schwartz, Stephen M %A Ikram, M Arfan %A Longstreth, W T %A Mosley, Thomas H %A Seshadri, Sudha %A Shrine, Nick R G %A Wain, Louise V %A Morken, Mario A %A Swift, Amy J %A Laitinen, Jaana %A Prokopenko, Inga %A Zitting, Paavo %A Cooper, Jackie A %A Humphries, Steve E %A Danesh, John %A Rasheed, Asif %A Goel, Anuj %A Hamsten, Anders %A Watkins, Hugh %A Bakker, Stephan J L %A van Gilst, Wiek H %A Janipalli, Charles S %A Mani, K Radha %A Yajnik, Chittaranjan S %A Hofman, Albert %A Mattace-Raso, Francesco U S %A Oostra, Ben A %A Demirkan, Ayse %A Isaacs, Aaron %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Lakatta, Edward G %A Orrù, Marco %A Scuteri, Angelo %A Ala-Korpela, Mika %A Kangas, Antti J %A Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka %A Soininen, Pasi %A Tukiainen, Taru %A Würtz, Peter %A Ong, Rick Twee-Hee %A Dörr, Marcus %A Kroemer, Heyo K %A Völker, Uwe %A Völzke, Henry %A Galan, Pilar %A Hercberg, Serge %A Lathrop, Mark %A Zelenika, Diana %A Deloukas, Panos %A Mangino, Massimo %A Spector, Tim D %A Zhai, Guangju %A Meschia, James F %A Nalls, Michael A %A Sharma, Pankaj %A Terzic, Janos %A Kumar, M V Kranthi %A Denniff, Matthew %A Zukowska-Szczechowska, Ewa %A Wagenknecht, Lynne E %A Fowkes, F Gerald R %A Charchar, Fadi J %A Schwarz, Peter E H %A Hayward, Caroline %A Guo, Xiuqing %A Rotimi, Charles %A Bots, Michiel L %A Brand, Eva %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Polasek, Ozren %A Talmud, Philippa J %A Nyberg, Fredrik %A Kuh, Diana %A Laan, Maris %A Hveem, Kristian %A Palmer, Lyle J %A van der Schouw, Yvonne T %A Casas, Juan P %A Mohlke, Karen L %A Vineis, Paolo %A Raitakari, Olli %A Ganesh, Santhi K %A Wong, Tien Y %A Tai, E Shyong %A Cooper, Richard S %A Laakso, Markku %A Rao, Dabeeru C %A Harris, Tamara B %A Morris, Richard W %A Dominiczak, Anna F %A Kivimaki, Mika %A Marmot, Michael G %A Miki, Tetsuro %A Saleheen, Danish %A Chandak, Giriraj R %A Coresh, Josef %A Navis, Gerjan %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Han, Bok-Ghee %A Zhu, Xiaofeng %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Melander, Olle %A Ridker, Paul M %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Gyllensten, Ulf B %A Wright, Alan F %A Wilson, James F %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Farrall, Martin %A Tuomilehto, Jaakko %A Pramstaller, Peter P %A Elosua, Roberto %A Soranzo, Nicole %A Sijbrands, Eric J G %A Altshuler, David %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Shuldiner, Alan R %A Gieger, Christian %A Meneton, Pierre %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Rotter, Jerome I %A Rettig, Rainer %A Uda, Manuela %A Strachan, David P %A Witteman, Jacqueline C M %A Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa %A Beckmann, Jacques S %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Vasan, Ramachandran S %A Boehnke, Michael %A Larson, Martin G %A Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Abecasis, Goncalo R %A Chakravarti, Aravinda %A Elliott, Paul %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Newton-Cheh, Christopher %A Levy, Daniel %A Caulfield, Mark J %A Johnson, Toby %K Africa %K Asia %K Blood Pressure %K Cardiovascular Diseases %K Coronary Artery Disease %K Europe %K Genetic Predisposition to Disease %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Humans %K Hypertension %K Kidney Diseases %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %K Stroke %X

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This genome-wide association study of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which used a multi-stage design in 200,000 individuals of European descent, identified sixteen novel loci: six of these loci contain genes previously known or suspected to regulate blood pressure (GUCY1A3-GUCY1B3, NPR3-C5orf23, ADM, FURIN-FES, GOSR2, GNAS-EDN3); the other ten provide new clues to blood pressure physiology. A genetic risk score based on 29 genome-wide significant variants was associated with hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease, but not kidney disease or kidney function. We also observed associations with blood pressure in East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry individuals. Our findings provide new insights into the genetics and biology of blood pressure, and suggest potential novel therapeutic pathways for cardiovascular disease prevention.

%B Nature %V 478 %P 103-9 %8 2011 Sep 11 %G eng %N 7367 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21909115?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/nature10405 %0 Journal Article %J Nat Genet %D 2011 %T Genome-wide association study identifies six new loci influencing pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure. %A Wain, Louise V %A Verwoert, Germaine C %A O'Reilly, Paul F %A Shi, Gang %A Johnson, Toby %A Johnson, Andrew D %A Bochud, Murielle %A Rice, Kenneth M %A Henneman, Peter %A Smith, Albert V %A Ehret, Georg B %A Amin, Najaf %A Larson, Martin G %A Mooser, Vincent %A Hadley, David %A Dörr, Marcus %A Bis, Joshua C %A Aspelund, Thor %A Esko, Tõnu %A Janssens, A Cecile J W %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Heath, Simon %A Laan, Maris %A Fu, Jingyuan %A Pistis, Giorgio %A Luan, Jian'an %A Arora, Pankaj %A Lucas, Gavin %A Pirastu, Nicola %A Pichler, Irene %A Jackson, Anne U %A Webster, Rebecca J %A Zhang, Feng %A Peden, John F %A Schmidt, Helena %A Tanaka, Toshiko %A Campbell, Harry %A Igl, Wilmar %A Milaneschi, Yuri %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Vitart, Veronique %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Trompet, Stella %A Bragg-Gresham, Jennifer L %A Alizadeh, Behrooz Z %A Chambers, John C %A Guo, Xiuqing %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Kuhnel, Brigitte %A Lopez, Lorna M %A Polasek, Ozren %A Boban, Mladen %A Nelson, Christopher P %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Pihur, Vasyl %A Ganesh, Santhi K %A Hofman, Albert %A Kundu, Suman %A Mattace-Raso, Francesco U S %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Sijbrands, Eric J G %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Hwang, Shih-Jen %A Vasan, Ramachandran S %A Wang, Thomas J %A Bergmann, Sven %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Waeber, Gérard %A Laitinen, Jaana %A Pouta, Anneli %A Zitting, Paavo %A McArdle, Wendy L %A Kroemer, Heyo K %A Völker, Uwe %A Völzke, Henry %A Glazer, Nicole L %A Taylor, Kent D %A Harris, Tamara B %A Alavere, Helene %A Haller, Toomas %A Keis, Aime %A Tammesoo, Mari-Liis %A Aulchenko, Yurii %A Barroso, Inês %A Khaw, Kay-Tee %A Galan, Pilar %A Hercberg, Serge %A Lathrop, Mark %A Eyheramendy, Susana %A Org, Elin %A Sõber, Siim %A Lu, Xiaowen %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Penninx, Brenda W %A Corre, Tanguy %A Masciullo, Corrado %A Sala, Cinzia %A Groop, Leif %A Voight, Benjamin F %A Melander, Olle %A O'Donnell, Christopher J %A Salomaa, Veikko %A d'Adamo, Adamo Pio %A Fabretto, Antonella %A Faletra, Flavio %A Ulivi, Sheila %A Del Greco, Fabiola M %A Facheris, Maurizio %A Collins, Francis S %A Bergman, Richard N %A Beilby, John P %A Hung, Joseph %A Musk, A William %A Mangino, Massimo %A Shin, So-Youn %A Soranzo, Nicole %A Watkins, Hugh %A Goel, Anuj %A Hamsten, Anders %A Gider, Pierre %A Loitfelder, Marisa %A Zeginigg, Marion %A Hernandez, Dena %A Najjar, Samer S %A Navarro, Pau %A Wild, Sarah H %A Corsi, Anna Maria %A Singleton, Andrew %A de Geus, Eco J C %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Parker, Alex N %A Rose, Lynda M %A Buckley, Brendan %A Stott, David %A Orrù, Marco %A Uda, Manuela %A van der Klauw, Melanie M %A Zhang, Weihua %A Li, Xinzhong %A Scott, James %A Chen, Yii-Der Ida %A Burke, Gregory L %A Kähönen, Mika %A Viikari, Jorma %A Döring, Angela %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Davies, Gail %A Starr, John M %A Emilsson, Valur %A Plump, Andrew %A Lindeman, Jan H %A Hoen, Peter A C 't %A König, Inke R %A Felix, Janine F %A Clarke, Robert %A Hopewell, Jemma C %A Ongen, Halit %A Breteler, Monique %A Debette, Stephanie %A DeStefano, Anita L %A Fornage, Myriam %A Mitchell, Gary F %A Smith, Nicholas L %A Holm, Hilma %A Stefansson, Kari %A Thorleifsson, Gudmar %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Preuss, Michael %A Rudan, Igor %A Hayward, Caroline %A Deary, Ian J %A Wichmann, H-Erich %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Palmas, Walter %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Stolk, Ronald P %A Jukema, J Wouter %A Wright, Alan F %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Gyllensten, Ulf B %A Wilson, James F %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Schmidt, Reinhold %A Farrall, Martin %A Spector, Tim D %A Palmer, Lyle J %A Tuomilehto, Jaakko %A Pfeufer, Arne %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Siscovick, David %A Altshuler, David %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Toniolo, Daniela %A Snieder, Harold %A Gieger, Christian %A Meneton, Pierre %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Oostra, Ben A %A Metspalu, Andres %A Launer, Lenore %A Rettig, Rainer %A Strachan, David P %A Beckmann, Jacques S %A Witteman, Jacqueline C M %A Erdmann, Jeanette %A van Dijk, Ko Willems %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Boehnke, Michael %A Ridker, Paul M %A Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Chakravarti, Aravinda %A Abecasis, Goncalo R %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Newton-Cheh, Christopher %A Levy, Daniel %A Munroe, Patricia B %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Caulfield, Mark J %A Rao, Dabeeru C %A Tobin, Martin D %A Elliott, Paul %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %K Arteries %K Blood Pressure %K Case-Control Studies %K Follow-Up Studies %K Genetic Loci %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Humans %K Hypertension %K Linkage Disequilibrium %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %X

Numerous genetic loci have been associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in Europeans. We now report genome-wide association studies of pulse pressure (PP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP). In discovery (N = 74,064) and follow-up studies (N = 48,607), we identified at genome-wide significance (P = 2.7 × 10(-8) to P = 2.3 × 10(-13)) four new PP loci (at 4q12 near CHIC2, 7q22.3 near PIK3CG, 8q24.12 in NOV and 11q24.3 near ADAMTS8), two new MAP loci (3p21.31 in MAP4 and 10q25.3 near ADRB1) and one locus associated with both of these traits (2q24.3 near FIGN) that has also recently been associated with SBP in east Asians. For three of the new PP loci, the estimated effect for SBP was opposite of that for DBP, in contrast to the majority of common SBP- and DBP-associated variants, which show concordant effects on both traits. These findings suggest new genetic pathways underlying blood pressure variation, some of which may differentially influence SBP and DBP.

%B Nat Genet %V 43 %P 1005-11 %8 2011 Sep 11 %G eng %N 10 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21909110?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/ng.922 %0 Journal Article %J Nature %D 2012 %T FTO genotype is associated with phenotypic variability of body mass index. %A Yang, Jian %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Powell, Joseph E %A Medland, Sarah E %A Speliotes, Elizabeth K %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Rose, Lynda M %A Thorleifsson, Gudmar %A Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur %A Mägi, Reedik %A Waite, Lindsay %A Smith, Albert Vernon %A Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M %A Monda, Keri L %A Hadley, David %A Mahajan, Anubha %A Li, Guo %A Kapur, Karen %A Vitart, Veronique %A Huffman, Jennifer E %A Wang, Sophie R %A Palmer, Cameron %A Esko, Tõnu %A Fischer, Krista %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Demirkan, Ayse %A Isaacs, Aaron %A Feitosa, Mary F %A Luan, Jian'an %A Heard-Costa, Nancy L %A White, Charles %A Jackson, Anne U %A Preuss, Michael %A Ziegler, Andreas %A Eriksson, Joel %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Frau, Francesca %A Nolte, Ilja M %A van Vliet-Ostaptchouk, Jana V %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Jacobs, Kevin B %A Verweij, Niek %A Goel, Anuj %A Medina-Gómez, Carolina %A Estrada, Karol %A Bragg-Gresham, Jennifer Lynn %A Sanna, Serena %A Sidore, Carlo %A Tyrer, Jonathan %A Teumer, Alexander %A Prokopenko, Inga %A Mangino, Massimo %A Lindgren, Cecilia M %A Assimes, Themistocles L %A Shuldiner, Alan R %A Hui, Jennie %A Beilby, John P %A McArdle, Wendy L %A Hall, Per %A Haritunians, Talin %A Zgaga, Lina %A Kolcic, Ivana %A Polasek, Ozren %A Zemunik, Tatijana %A Oostra, Ben A %A Junttila, M Juhani %A Grönberg, Henrik %A Schreiber, Stefan %A Peters, Annette %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Stephens, Jonathan %A Foad, Nicola S %A Laitinen, Jaana %A Pouta, Anneli %A Kaakinen, Marika %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Vink, Jacqueline M %A Wild, Sarah H %A Navis, Gerjan %A Asselbergs, Folkert W %A Homuth, Georg %A John, Ulrich %A Iribarren, Carlos %A Harris, Tamara %A Launer, Lenore %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A O'Connell, Jeffrey R %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Cadby, Gemma %A Palmer, Lyle J %A James, Alan L %A Musk, Arthur W %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Beckmann, Jacques S %A Waeber, Gérard %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Hayward, Caroline %A Wright, Alan F %A Rudan, Igor %A Groop, Leif C %A Metspalu, Andres %A Khaw, Kay Tee %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Borecki, Ingrid B %A Province, Michael A %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Tardif, Jean-Claude %A Huikuri, Heikki V %A Cupples, L Adrienne %A Atwood, Larry D %A Fox, Caroline S %A Boehnke, Michael %A Collins, Francis S %A Mohlke, Karen L %A Erdmann, Jeanette %A Schunkert, Heribert %A Hengstenberg, Christian %A Stark, Klaus %A Lorentzon, Mattias %A Ohlsson, Claes %A Cusi, Daniele %A Staessen, Jan A %A van der Klauw, Melanie M %A Pramstaller, Peter P %A Kathiresan, Sekar %A Jolley, Jennifer D %A Ripatti, Samuli %A Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A de Geus, Eco J C %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Penninx, Brenda %A Wilson, James F %A Campbell, Harry %A Chanock, Stephen J %A van der Harst, Pim %A Hamsten, Anders %A Watkins, Hugh %A Hofman, Albert %A Witteman, Jacqueline C %A Zillikens, M Carola %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Zillikens, M Carola %A Kiemeney, Lambertus A %A Vermeulen, Sita H %A Abecasis, Goncalo R %A Schlessinger, David %A Schipf, Sabine %A Stumvoll, Michael %A Tönjes, Anke %A Spector, Tim D %A North, Kari E %A Lettre, Guillaume %A McCarthy, Mark I %A Berndt, Sonja I %A Heath, Andrew C %A Madden, Pamela A F %A Nyholt, Dale R %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Martin, Nicholas G %A McKnight, Barbara %A Strachan, David P %A Hill, William G %A Snieder, Harold %A Ridker, Paul M %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A Stefansson, Kari %A Frayling, Timothy M %A Hirschhorn, Joel N %A Goddard, Michael E %A Visscher, Peter M %K Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO %K Body Height %K Body Mass Index %K Co-Repressor Proteins %K Female %K Genetic Variation %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Humans %K Male %K Nerve Tissue Proteins %K Phenotype %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %K Proteins %K Repressor Proteins %X

There is evidence across several species for genetic control of phenotypic variation of complex traits, such that the variance among phenotypes is genotype dependent. Understanding genetic control of variability is important in evolutionary biology, agricultural selection programmes and human medicine, yet for complex traits, no individual genetic variants associated with variance, as opposed to the mean, have been identified. Here we perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of phenotypic variation using ∼170,000 samples on height and body mass index (BMI) in human populations. We report evidence that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7202116 at the FTO gene locus, which is known to be associated with obesity (as measured by mean BMI for each rs7202116 genotype), is also associated with phenotypic variability. We show that the results are not due to scale effects or other artefacts, and find no other experiment-wise significant evidence for effects on variability, either at loci other than FTO for BMI or at any locus for height. The difference in variance for BMI among individuals with opposite homozygous genotypes at the FTO locus is approximately 7%, corresponding to a difference of ∼0.5 kilograms in the standard deviation of weight. Our results indicate that genetic variants can be discovered that are associated with variability, and that between-person variability in obesity can partly be explained by the genotype at the FTO locus. The results are consistent with reported FTO by environment interactions for BMI, possibly mediated by DNA methylation. Our BMI results for other SNPs and our height results for all SNPs suggest that most genetic variants, including those that influence mean height or mean BMI, are not associated with phenotypic variance, or that their effects on variability are too small to detect even with samples sizes greater than 100,000.

%B Nature %V 490 %P 267-72 %8 2012 Oct 11 %G eng %N 7419 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22982992?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/nature11401 %0 Journal Article %J Nat Genet %D 2013 %T Identification of heart rate-associated loci and their effects on cardiac conduction and rhythm disorders. %A den Hoed, Marcel %A Eijgelsheim, Mark %A Esko, Tõnu %A Brundel, Bianca J J M %A Peal, David S %A Evans, David M %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Segrè, Ayellet V %A Holm, Hilma %A Handsaker, Robert E %A Westra, Harm-Jan %A Johnson, Toby %A Isaacs, Aaron %A Yang, Jian %A Lundby, Alicia %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Kim, Young Jin %A Go, Min Jin %A Almgren, Peter %A Bochud, Murielle %A Boucher, Gabrielle %A Cornelis, Marilyn C %A Gudbjartsson, Daniel %A Hadley, David %A van der Harst, Pim %A Hayward, Caroline %A den Heijer, Martin %A Igl, Wilmar %A Jackson, Anne U %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Luan, Jian'an %A Kemp, John P %A Kristiansson, Kati %A Ladenvall, Claes %A Lorentzon, Mattias %A Montasser, May E %A Njajou, Omer T %A O'Reilly, Paul F %A Padmanabhan, Sandosh %A St Pourcain, Beate %A Rankinen, Tuomo %A Salo, Perttu %A Tanaka, Toshiko %A Timpson, Nicholas J %A Vitart, Veronique %A Waite, Lindsay %A Wheeler, William %A Zhang, Weihua %A Draisma, Harmen H M %A Feitosa, Mary F %A Kerr, Kathleen F %A Lind, Penelope A %A Mihailov, Evelin %A Onland-Moret, N Charlotte %A Song, Ci %A Weedon, Michael N %A Xie, Weijia %A Yengo, Loic %A Absher, Devin %A Albert, Christine M %A Alonso, Alvaro %A Arking, Dan E %A de Bakker, Paul I W %A Balkau, Beverley %A Barlassina, Cristina %A Benaglio, Paola %A Bis, Joshua C %A Bouatia-Naji, Nabila %A Brage, Søren %A Chanock, Stephen J %A Chines, Peter S %A Chung, Mina %A Darbar, Dawood %A Dina, Christian %A Dörr, Marcus %A Elliott, Paul %A Felix, Stephan B %A Fischer, Krista %A Fuchsberger, Christian %A de Geus, Eco J C %A Goyette, Philippe %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Harris, Tamara B %A Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa %A Havulinna, Aki S %A Heckbert, Susan R %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Hofman, Albert %A Holewijn, Suzanne %A Hoogstra-Berends, Femke %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Jensen, Majken K %A Johansson, Asa %A Junttila, Juhani %A Kääb, Stefan %A Kanon, Bart %A Ketkar, Shamika %A Khaw, Kay-Tee %A Knowles, Joshua W %A Kooner, Angrad S %A Kors, Jan A %A Kumari, Meena %A Milani, Lili %A Laiho, Päivi %A Lakatta, Edward G %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Leusink, Maarten %A Liu, Yongmei %A Luben, Robert N %A Lunetta, Kathryn L %A Lynch, Stacey N %A Markus, Marcello R P %A Marques-Vidal, Pedro %A Mateo Leach, Irene %A McArdle, Wendy L %A McCarroll, Steven A %A Medland, Sarah E %A Miller, Kathryn A %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Müller-Nurasyid, Martina %A Navarro, Pau %A Nelis, Mari %A O'Connell, Jeffrey R %A O'Donnell, Christopher J %A Ong, Ken K %A Newman, Anne B %A Peters, Annette %A Polasek, Ozren %A Pouta, Anneli %A Pramstaller, Peter P %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Rao, Dabeeru C %A Ring, Susan M %A Rossin, Elizabeth J %A Rudan, Diana %A Sanna, Serena %A Scott, Robert A %A Sehmi, Jaban S %A Sharp, Stephen %A Shin, Jordan T %A Singleton, Andrew B %A Smith, Albert V %A Soranzo, Nicole %A Spector, Tim D %A Stewart, Chip %A Stringham, Heather M %A Tarasov, Kirill V %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Vandenput, Liesbeth %A Hwang, Shih-Jen %A Whitfield, John B %A Wijmenga, Cisca %A Wild, Sarah H %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Wilson, James F %A Witteman, Jacqueline C M %A Wong, Andrew %A Wong, Quenna %A Jamshidi, Yalda %A Zitting, Paavo %A Boer, Jolanda M A %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Borecki, Ingrid B %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Ekelund, Ulf %A Forouhi, Nita G %A Froguel, Philippe %A Hingorani, Aroon %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Kivimaki, Mika %A Kronmal, Richard A %A Kuh, Diana %A Lind, Lars %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Oostra, Ben A %A Pedersen, Nancy L %A Quertermous, Thomas %A Rotter, Jerome I %A van der Schouw, Yvonne T %A Verschuren, W M Monique %A Walker, Mark %A Albanes, Demetrius %A Arnar, David O %A Assimes, Themistocles L %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Boehnke, Michael %A de Boer, Rudolf A %A Bouchard, Claude %A Caulfield, W L Mark %A Chambers, John C %A Curhan, Gary %A Cusi, Daniele %A Eriksson, Johan %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A van Gilst, Wiek H %A Glorioso, Nicola %A de Graaf, Jacqueline %A Groop, Leif %A Gyllensten, Ulf %A Hsueh, Wen-Chi %A Hu, Frank B %A Huikuri, Heikki V %A Hunter, David J %A Iribarren, Carlos %A Isomaa, Bo %A Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Jula, Antti %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kiemeney, Lambertus A %A van der Klauw, Melanie M %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Kraft, Peter %A Iacoviello, Licia %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Lokki, Marja-Liisa L %A Mitchell, Braxton D %A Navis, Gerjan %A Nieminen, Markku S %A Ohlsson, Claes %A Poulter, Neil R %A Qi, Lu %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Rimm, Eric B %A Rioux, John D %A Rizzi, Federica %A Rudan, Igor %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Sever, Peter S %A Shields, Denis C %A Shuldiner, Alan R %A Sinisalo, Juha %A Stanton, Alice V %A Stolk, Ronald P %A Strachan, David P %A Tardif, Jean-Claude %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A Tuomilehto, Jaako %A van Veldhuisen, Dirk J %A Virtamo, Jarmo %A Viikari, Jorma %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Waeber, Gérard %A Widen, Elisabeth %A Cho, Yoon Shin %A Olsen, Jesper V %A Visscher, Peter M %A Willer, Cristen %A Franke, Lude %A Erdmann, Jeanette %A Thompson, John R %A Pfeufer, Arne %A Sotoodehnia, Nona %A Newton-Cheh, Christopher %A Ellinor, Patrick T %A Stricker, Bruno H Ch %A Metspalu, Andres %A Perola, Markus %A Beckmann, Jacques S %A Smith, George Davey %A Stefansson, Kari %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Munroe, Patricia B %A Sibon, Ody C M %A Milan, David J %A Snieder, Harold %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Loos, Ruth J F %K Animals %K Arrhythmias, Cardiac %K Gene Frequency %K Genetic Loci %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Heart Conduction System %K Heart Rate %K Humans %K Metabolic Networks and Pathways %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %K Quantitative Trait Loci %X

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

%B Nat Genet %V 45 %P 621-31 %8 2013 Jun %G eng %N 6 %R 10.1038/ng.2610