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Body-fat distribution is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular health consequences. We analyzed the association of body-fat distribution, assessed by waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index, with 228,985 predicted coding and splice site variants available on exome arrays in up to 344,369 individuals from five major ancestries (discovery) and 132,177 European-ancestry individuals (validation). We identified 15 common (minor allele frequency, MAF ≥5%) and nine low-frequency or rare (MAF <5%) coding novel variants. Pathway/gene set enrichment analyses identified lipid particle, adiponectin, abnormal white adipose tissue physiology and bone development and morphology as important contributors to fat distribution, while cross-trait associations highlight cardiometabolic traits. In functional follow-up analyses, specifically in Drosophila RNAi-knockdowns, we observed a significant increase in the total body triglyceride levels for two genes (DNAH10 and PLXND1). We implicate novel genes in fat distribution, stressing the importance of interrogating low-frequency and protein-coding variants.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/s41588-018-0334-2

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nature genetics

Publication Date

03/2019

Volume

51

Pages

452 - 469

Addresses

Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Keywords

CHD Exome+ Consortium, Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium, EPIC-CVD Consortium, ExomeBP Consortium, Global Lipids Genetic Consortium, GoT2D Genes Consortium, InterAct, ReproGen Consortium, T2D-Genes Consortium, MAGIC Investigators, Animals, Humans, Drosophila, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Lipids, Proteins, Body Mass Index, Waist-Hip Ratio, Risk Factors, Case-Control Studies, Homeostasis, Gene Frequency, Female, Male, Body Fat Distribution, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Exome