Cited 328 times since 2021 (87.5 per year) source: EuropePMC Nature genetics, Volume 53, Issue 6, 31 5 2021, Pages 840-860 The trans-ancestral genomic architecture of glycemic traits. Chen J, Spracklen CN, Marenne G, Varshney A, Corbin LJ, Luan J, Willems SM, Wu Y, Zhang X, Horikoshi M, Boutin TS, Mägi R, Waage J, Li-Gao R, Chan KHK, Yao J, Anasanti MD, Chu AY, Claringbould A, Heikkinen J, Hong J, Hottenga JJ, Huo S, Kaakinen MA, Louie T, März W, Moreno-Macias H, Ndungu A, Nelson SC, Nolte IM, North KE, Raulerson CK, Ray D, Rohde R, Rybin D, Schurmann C, Sim X, Southam L, Stewart ID, Wang CA, Wang Y, Wu P, Zhang W, Ahluwalia TS, Appel EVR, Bielak LF, Brody JA, Burtt NP, Cabrera CP, Cade BE, Chai JF, Chai X, Chang LC, Chen CH, Chen BH, Chitrala KN, Chiu YF, de Haan HG, Delgado GE, Demirkan A, Duan Q, Engmann J, Fatumo SA, Gayán J, Giulianini F, Gong JH, Gustafsson S, Hai Y, Hartwig FP, He J, Heianza Y, Huang T, Huerta-Chagoya A, Hwang MY, Jensen RA, Kawaguchi T, Kentistou KA, Kim YJ, Kleber ME, Kooner IK, Lai S, Lange LA, Langefeld CD, Lauzon M, Li M, Ligthart S, Liu J, Loh M, Long J, Lyssenko V, Mangino M, Marzi C, Montasser ME, Nag A, Nakatochi M, Noce D, Noordam R, Pistis G, Preuss M, Ra

Glycemic traits are used to diagnose and monitor type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic health. To date, most genetic studies of glycemic traits have focused on individuals of European ancestry. Here we aggregated genome-wide association studies comprising up to 281,416 individuals without diabetes (30% non-European ancestry) for whom fasting glucose, 2-h glucose after an oral glucose challenge, glycated hemoglobin and fasting insulin data were available. Trans-ancestry and single-ancestry meta-analyses identified 242 loci (99 novel; P < 5 × 10-8), 80% of which had no significant evidence of between-ancestry heterogeneity. Analyses restricted to individuals of European ancestry with equivalent sample size would have led to 24 fewer new loci. Compared with single-ancestry analyses, equivalent-sized trans-ancestry fine-mapping reduced the number of estimated variants in 99% credible sets by a median of 37.5%. Genomic-feature, gene-expression and gene-set analyses revealed distinct biological signatures for each trait, highlighting different underlying biological pathways. Our results increase our understanding of diabetes pathophysiology by using trans-ancestry studies for improved power and resolution.

Nat Genet. 2021 5;53(6):840-860