Cited 208 times since 2015 (22 per year) source: EuropePMC Nature genetics, Volume 47, Issue 11, 21 3 2015, Pages 1282-1293 Trans-ancestry genome-wide association study identifies 12 genetic loci influencing blood pressure and implicates a role for DNA methylation. Kato N, Loh M, Takeuchi F, Verweij N, Wang X, Zhang W, Kelly TN, Saleheen D, Lehne B, Leach IM, Drong AW, Abbott J, Wahl S, Tan ST, Scott WR, Campanella G, Chadeau-Hyam M, Afzal U, Ahluwalia TS, Bonder MJ, Chen P, Dehghan A, Edwards TL, Esko T, Go MJ, Harris SE, Hartiala J, Kasela S, Kasturiratne A, Khor CC, Kleber ME, Li H, Yu Mok Z, Nakatochi M, Sapari NS, Saxena R, Stewart AFR, Stolk L, Tabara Y, Teh AL, Wu Y, Wu JY, Zhang Y, Aits I, Da Silva Couto Alves A, Das S, Dorajoo R, Hopewell JC, Kim YK, Koivula RW, Luan J, Lyytikäinen LP, Nguyen QN, Pereira MA, Postmus I, Raitakari OT, Scannell Bryan M, Scott RA, Sorice R, Tragante V, Traglia M, White J, Yamamoto K, Zhang Y, Adair LS, Ahmed A, Akiyama K, Asif R, Aung T, Barroso I, Bjonnes A, Braun TR, Cai H, Chang LC, Chen CH, Cheng CY, Chong YS, Collins R, Courtney R, Davies G, Delgado G, Do LD, Doevendans PA, Gansevoort RT, Gao YT, Grammer TB, Grarup N, Grewal J, Gu D, Wander GS, Hartikainen AL, Hazen SL, He J, Heng CK, Hixson JE, Hofman A, Hsu C, Huang W, Husem

We carried out a trans-ancestry genome-wide association and replication study of blood pressure phenotypes among up to 320,251 individuals of East Asian, European and South Asian ancestry. We find genetic variants at 12 new loci to be associated with blood pressure (P = 3.9 × 10(-11) to 5.0 × 10(-21)). The sentinel blood pressure SNPs are enriched for association with DNA methylation at multiple nearby CpG sites, suggesting that, at some of the loci identified, DNA methylation may lie on the regulatory pathway linking sequence variation to blood pressure. The sentinel SNPs at the 12 new loci point to genes involved in vascular smooth muscle (IGFBP3, KCNK3, PDE3A and PRDM6) and renal (ARHGAP24, OSR1, SLC22A7 and TBX2) function. The new and known genetic variants predict increased left ventricular mass, circulating levels of NT-proBNP, and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (P = 0.04 to 8.6 × 10(-6)). Our results provide new evidence for the role of DNA methylation in blood pressure regulation.

Nat Genet. 2015 9;47(11):1282-1293