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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Jan 29;139(5):620-635.
doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.034532.

Genome-Wide Association Transethnic Meta-Analyses Identifies Novel Associations Regulating Coagulation Factor VIII and von Willebrand Factor Plasma Levels

Maria Sabater-Lleal  1   2 Jennifer E Huffman  3   4 Paul S de Vries  5   6 Jonathan Marten  7 Michael A Mastrangelo  8 Ci Song  3   4 Nathan Pankratz  9 Cavin K Ward-Caviness  10 Lisa R Yanek  11 Stella Trompet  12   13 Graciela E Delgado  14 Xiuqing Guo  15 Traci M Bartz  16 Angel Martinez-Perez  2 Marine Germain  17   18 Hugoline G de Haan  19 Ayse B Ozel  20 Ozren Polasek  21 Albert V Smith  22 John D Eicher  4 Alex P Reiner  23   24 Weihong Tang  25 Neil M Davies  26 David J Stott  27 Jerome I Rotter  15 Geoffrey H Tofler  28 Eric Boerwinkle  5   29 Moniek P M de Maat  30 Marcus E Kleber  14   31 Paul Welsh  32 Jennifer A Brody  33 Ming-Huei Chen  3   4 Dhananjay Vaidya  11 José Manuel Soria  2 Pierre Suchon  34   35 Astrid van Hylckama Vlieg  19 Karl C Desch  36 Ivana Kolcic  21 Peter K Joshi  37 Lenore J Launer  38 Tamara B Harris  38 Harry Campbell  37 Igor Rudan  37 Diane M Becker  11 Jun Z Li  20 Fernando Rivadeneira  39 André G Uitterlinden  39 Albert Hofman  6   40 Oscar H Franco  6   41 Mary Cushman  42 Bruce M Psaty  23   33   43   44 Pierre-Emmanuel Morange  34   35 Barbara McKnight  16   45 Michael R Chong  46 Israel Fernandez-Cadenas  47 Jonathan Rosand  48 Arne Lindgren  49   50 INVENT Consortium; MEGASTROKE Consortium of the International Stroke Genetics Consortium (ISGC)Vilmundur Gudnason  51   52 James F Wilson  7   37 Caroline Hayward  7 David Ginsburg  20 Myriam Fornage  5   53 Frits R Rosendaal  19   54 Juan Carlos Souto  55 Lewis C Becker  11 Nancy S Jenny  56 Winfried März  14   57   58 J Wouter Jukema  13   54   59 Abbas Dehghan  6   60 David-Alexandre Trégouët  17   18 Alanna C Morrison  5 Andrew D Johnson  3   4 Christopher J O'Donnell  3   4   61 David P Strachan  62 Charles J Lowenstein  8 Nicholas L Smith  23   44   63
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Genome-Wide Association Transethnic Meta-Analyses Identifies Novel Associations Regulating Coagulation Factor VIII and von Willebrand Factor Plasma Levels

Maria Sabater-Lleal et al. Circulation. .

Abstract

Background: Factor VIII (FVIII) and its carrier protein von Willebrand factor (VWF) are associated with risk of arterial and venous thrombosis and with hemorrhagic disorders. We aimed to identify and functionally test novel genetic associations regulating plasma FVIII and VWF.

Methods: We meta-analyzed genome-wide association results from 46 354 individuals of European, African, East Asian, and Hispanic ancestry. All studies performed linear regression analysis using an additive genetic model and associated ≈35 million imputed variants with natural log-transformed phenotype levels. In vitro gene silencing in cultured endothelial cells was performed for candidate genes to provide additional evidence on association and function. Two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses were applied to test the causal role of FVIII and VWF plasma levels on the risk of arterial and venous thrombotic events.

Results: We identified 13 novel genome-wide significant ( P≤2.5×10-8) associations, 7 with FVIII levels ( FCHO2/TMEM171/TNPO1, HLA, SOX17/RP1, LINC00583/NFIB, RAB5C-KAT2A, RPL3/TAB1/SYNGR1, and ARSA) and 11 with VWF levels ( PDHB/PXK/KCTD6, SLC39A8, FCHO2/TMEM171/TNPO1, HLA, GIMAP7/GIMAP4, OR13C5/NIPSNAP, DAB2IP, C2CD4B, RAB5C-KAT2A, TAB1/SYNGR1, and ARSA), beyond 10 previously reported associations with these phenotypes. Functional validation provided further evidence of association for all loci on VWF except ARSA and DAB2IP. Mendelian randomization suggested causal effects of plasma FVIII activity levels on venous thrombosis and coronary artery disease risk and plasma VWF levels on ischemic stroke risk.

Conclusions: The meta-analysis identified 13 novel genetic loci regulating FVIII and VWF plasma levels, 10 of which we validated functionally. We provide some evidence for a causal role of these proteins in thrombotic events.

Keywords: cardiovascular diseases; factor VIII; genetics; genome-wide association studies; risk factors; von Willebrand factor.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Manhattan plot for the transethnic analyses factor VIII (FVIII) and von Willebrand factor (VWF).
Representation of genome-wide results for FVIII (A) and VWF (B). Loci named by closest gene. Black indicates novel associations.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Silencing candidate genes changes basal release and stimulated release of von Willebrand factor (VWF).
Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were transfected with short interfering RNA (siRNA) against selected genes for 4 days; the media was changed; and the cells were cultured for 30 minutes for basal release (A) or were stimulated with histamine 10 μmol/L for 30 minutes (B). VWF was then measured in the supernatant by an ELISA. n=4±SD. All results are relative to VWF release after transfection with a scrambled control siRNA, which is set as reference (100%). *P<0.05. **P<0.01. ***P<0.001.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Mendelian randomization results.
Results show odds ratio (OR) (95% CI) per every higher SD change in FVIII (A) and von Willebrand factor (VWF; B). CAD indicates coronary artery disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FVIII, factor VIII; IVW, inverse-variance-weighted method; IVW.adjusted, IVW factor VIII adjusted for the effects of VWF; and VTE, venous thromboembolism.

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