Identification of 15 novel risk loci for coronary artery disease and genetic risk of recurrent events, atrial fibrillation and heart failure

Sci Rep. 2017 Jun 5;7(1):2761. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03062-8.

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Identification of novel genetic determinants may provide new opportunities for developing innovative strategies to predict, prevent and treat CAD. Therefore, we meta-analyzed independent genetic variants passing P <× 10-5 in CARDIoGRAMplusC4D with novel data made available by UK Biobank. Of the 161 genetic variants studied, 71 reached genome wide significance (p < 5 × 10-8) including 15 novel loci. These novel loci include multiple genes that are involved in angiogenesis (TGFB1, ITGB5, CDH13 and RHOA) and 2 independent variants in the TGFB1 locus. We also identified SGEF as a candidate gene in one of the novel CAD loci. SGEF was previously suggested as a therapeutic target based on mouse studies. The genetic risk score of CAD predicted recurrent CAD events and cardiovascular mortality. We also identified significant genetic correlations between CAD and other cardiovascular conditions, including heart failure and atrial fibrillation. In conclusion, we substantially increased the number of loci convincingly associated with CAD and provide additional biological and clinical insights.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alleles
  • Atrial Fibrillation / genetics*
  • Atrial Fibrillation / metabolism
  • Coronary Artery Disease / genetics*
  • Coronary Artery Disease / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Genetic Association Studies*
  • Genetic Loci*
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Genetic Variation
  • Genotype
  • Heart Failure / genetics*
  • Heart Failure / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Odds Ratio
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Risk Assessment
  • Signal Transduction
  • United Kingdom