The EPIC-Norfolk Study
Discovery of rare variants associated with blood pressure regulation through meta-analysis of 1.3 million individuals.
Nature genetics 2019 ; 52: 1314-1332.
Surendran P, Feofanova EV, Lahrouchi N, Ntalla I, Karthikeyan S, Cook J, Chen L, Mifsud B, Yao C, Kraja AT, Cartwright JH, Hellwege JN, Giri A, Tragante V, Thorleifsson G, Liu DJ, Prins BP, Stewart ID, Cabrera CP, Eales JM, Akbarov A, Auer PL, Bielak LF, Bis JC, Braithwaite VS, Brody JA, Daw EW, Warren HR, Drenos F, Nielsen SF, Faul JD, Fauman EB, Fava C, Ferreira T, Foley CN, Franceschini N, Gao H, Giannakopoulou O, Giulianini F, Gudbjartsson DF, Guo X, Harris SE, Havulinna AS, Helgadottir A, Huffman JE, Hwang SJ, Kanoni S, Kontto J, Larson MG, Li-Gao R, Lindström J, Lotta LA, Lu Y, Luan J, Mahajan A, Malerba G, Masca NGD, Mei H, Menni C, Mook-Kanamori DO, Mosen-Ansorena D, Müller-Nurasyid M, Pare G, Paul DS, Perola M, Poveda A, Rauramaa R, Richard M, Richardson TG, Sepúlveda N, Sim X, Smith AV, Smith JA, Staley JR, Stanáková A, Sulem P, Thériault S, Thorsteinsdottir U, Trompet S, Varga TV, Velez Edwards DR, Veronesi G, Weiss S, Willems SM, Yao J, Young R, Yu B, Zhang W, Zhao JH, Zhao W, Evangelou E, Aeschbacher S, Asllanaj E, Blankenberg S, Bonnycastle LL, Bork-Jensen J, Brandslund I, Braund PS, Burgess S, Cho K, Christensen C, Connell J, Mutsert R, Dominiczak AF, Dörr M, Eiriksdottir G, Farmaki AE, Gaziano JM, Grarup N, Grove ML, Hallmans G, Hansen T, Have CT, Heiss G, Jørgensen ME, Jousilahti P, Kajantie E, Kamat M, Käräjämäki A, Karpe F, Koistinen HA, Kovesdy CP, Kuulasmaa K, Laatikainen T, Lannfelt L, Lee IT, Lee WJ, Lifelines Cohort Study Lifelines Cohort Study, Linneberg A, Martin LW, Moitry M, Nadkarni G, Neville MJ, Palmer CNA, Papanicolaou GJ, Pedersen O, Peters J, Poulter N, Rasheed A, Rasmussen KL, Rayner NW, Mägi R, Renstrom F, Rettig R, Rossouw J, Schreiner PJ, Sever PS, Sigurdsson EL, Skaaby T, Sun YV, Sundström J, Thorgeirsson G, Esko T, Trabetti E, Tsao PS, Tuomi T, Turner ST, Tzoulaki I, Vaartjes I, Vergnaud AC, Willer CJ, Wilson PWF, Witte DR, Yonova-Doing E, Zhang H, Aliya N, Almgren P, Amouyel P, Asselbergs FW, Barnes MR, Blakemore AI, Boehnke M, Bots ML, Bottinger EP, Buring JE, Chambers JC, Chen YI, Chowdhury R, Conen D, Correa A, Davey Smith G, Boer RA, Deary IJ, Dedoussis G, Deloukas P, Di Angelantonio E, Elliott P, EPIC-CVD EPIC-CVD, EPIC-InterAct EPIC-InterAct, Felix SB, Ferrières J, Ford I, Fornage M, Franks PW, Franks S, Frossard P, Gambaro G, Gaunt TR, Groop L, Gudnason V, Harris TB, Hayward C, Hennig BJ, Herzig KH, Ingelsson E, Tuomilehto J, Järvelin MR, Jukema JW, Kardia SLR, Kee F, Kooner JS, Kooperberg C, Launer LJ, Lind L, Loos RJF, Majumder AAS, Laakso M, McCarthy MI, Melander O, Mohlke KL, Murray AD, Nordestgaard BG, Orho-Melander M, Packard CJ, Padmanabhan S, Palmas W, Polasek O, Porteous DJ, Prentice AM, Province MA, Relton CL, Rice K, Ridker PM, Rolandsson O, Rosendaal FR, Rotter JI, Rudan I, Salomaa V, Samani NJ, Sattar N, Sheu WH, Smith BH, Soranzo N, Spector TD, Starr JM, Sebert S, Taylor KD, Lakka TA, Timpson NJ, Tobin MD, Understanding Society Scientific Group Understanding Society Scientific Group, van der Harst P, van der Meer P, Ramachandran VS, Verweij N, Virtamo J, Völker U, Weir DR, Zeggini E, Charchar FJ, Million Veteran Program Million Veteran Program, Wareham NJ, Langenberg C, Tomaszewski M, Butterworth AS, Caulfield MJ, Danesh J, Edwards TL, Holm H, Hung AM, Lindgren CM, Liu C, Manning AK, Morris AP, Morrison AC, O'Donnell CJ, Psaty BM, Saleheen D, Stefansson K, Boerwinkle E, Chasman DI, Levy D, Newton-Cheh C, Munroe PB, and Howson JMM
DOI : PMC7610439
PubMed ID : 33230300
PMCID : PMC7610439
URL : https://dx.doi.org/PMC7610439
Abstract
Genetic studies of blood pressure (BP) to date have mainly analyzed common variants (minor allele frequency > 0.05). In a meta-analysis of up to ~1.3 million participants, we discovered 106 new BP-associated genomic regions and 87 rare (minor allele frequency ≤ 0.01) variant BP associations (P < 5 × 10), of which 32 were in new BP-associated loci and 55 were independent BP-associated single-nucleotide variants within known BP-associated regions. Average effects of rare variants (44% coding) were ~8 times larger than common variant effects and indicate potential candidate causal genes at new and known loci (for example, GATA5 and PLCB3). BP-associated variants (including rare and common) were enriched in regions of active chromatin in fetal tissues, potentially linking fetal development with BP regulation in later life. Multivariable Mendelian randomization suggested possible inverse effects of elevated systolic and diastolic BP on large artery stroke. Our study demonstrates the utility of rare-variant analyses for identifying candidate genes and the results highlight potential therapeutic targets.