Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in >80 000 subjects identifies multiple loci for C-reactive protein levels.
Dehghan A., Dupuis J., Barbalic M., Bis JC., Eiriksdottir G., Lu C., Pellikka N., Wallaschofski H., Kettunen J., Henneman P., Baumert J., Strachan DP., Fuchsberger C., Vitart V., Wilson JF., Paré G., Naitza S., Rudock ME., Surakka I., de Geus EJC., Alizadeh BZ., Guralnik J., Shuldiner A., Tanaka T., Zee RYL., Schnabel RB., Nambi V., Kavousi M., Ripatti S., Nauck M., Smith NL., Smith AV., Sundvall J., Scheet P., Liu Y., Ruokonen A., Rose LM., Larson MG., Hoogeveen RC., Freimer NB., Teumer A., Tracy RP., Launer LJ., Buring JE., Yamamoto JF., Folsom AR., Sijbrands EJG., Pankow J., Elliott P., Keaney JF., Sun W., Sarin A-P., Fontes JD., Badola S., Astor BC., Hofman A., Pouta A., Werdan K., Greiser KH., Kuss O., Meyer zu Schwabedissen HE., Thiery J., Jamshidi Y., Nolte IM., Soranzo N., Spector TD., Völzke H., Parker AN., Aspelund T., Bates D., Young L., Tsui K., Siscovick DS., Guo X., Rotter JI., Uda M., Schlessinger D., Rudan I., Hicks AA., Penninx BW., Thorand B., Gieger C., Coresh J., Willemsen G., Harris TB., Uitterlinden AG., Järvelin M-R., Rice K., Radke D., Salomaa V., Willems van Dijk K., Boerwinkle E., Vasan RS., Ferrucci L., Gibson QD., Bandinelli S., Snieder H., Boomsma DI., Xiao X., Campbell H., Hayward C., Pramstaller PP., van Duijn CM., Peltonen L., Psaty BM., Gudnason V., Ridker PM., Homuth G., Koenig W., Ballantyne CM., Witteman JCM., Benjamin EJ., Perola M., Chasman DI.
BACKGROUND:C-reactive protein (CRP) is a heritable marker of chronic inflammation that is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. We sought to identify genetic variants that are associated with CRP levels. METHODS AND RESULTS:We performed a genome-wide association analysis of CRP in 66 185 participants from 15 population-based studies. We sought replication for the genome-wide significant and suggestive loci in a replication panel comprising 16 540 individuals from 10 independent studies. We found 18 genome-wide significant loci, and we provided evidence of replication for 8 of them. Our results confirm 7 previously known loci and introduce 11 novel loci that are implicated in pathways related to the metabolic syndrome (APOC1, HNF1A, LEPR, GCKR, HNF4A, and PTPN2) or the immune system (CRP, IL6R, NLRP3, IL1F10, and IRF1) or that reside in regions previously not known to play a role in chronic inflammation (PPP1R3B, SALL1, PABPC4, ASCL1, RORA, and BCL7B). We found a significant interaction of body mass index with LEPR (P<2.9×10(-6)). A weighted genetic risk score that was developed to summarize the effect of risk alleles was strongly associated with CRP levels and explained ≈5% of the trait variance; however, there was no evidence for these genetic variants explaining the association of CRP with coronary heart disease. CONCLUSIONS:We identified 18 loci that were associated with CRP levels. Our study highlights immune response and metabolic regulatory pathways involved in the regulation of chronic inflammation.