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. 2024 May 2;143(18):1845-1855.
doi: 10.1182/blood.2023021452.

A genetic association study of circulating coagulation factor VIII and von Willebrand factor levels

Paul S de Vries  1 Paula Reventun  2 Michael R Brown  1 Adam S Heath  1 Jennifer E Huffman  3 Ngoc-Quynh Le  4 Allison Bebo  1 Jennifer A Brody  5 Gerard Temprano-Sagrera  4 Laura M Raffield  6 Ayse Bilge Ozel  7 Florian Thibord  8 Deepti Jain  9 Joshua P Lewis  10 Benjamin A T Rodriguez  8 Nathan Pankratz  11 Kent D Taylor  12 Ozren Polasek  13 Ming-Huei Chen  8 Lisa R Yanek  2 German D Carrasquilla  14   15 Riccardo E Marioni  16 Marcus E Kleber  17   18 David-Alexandre Trégouët  19 Jie Yao  12 Ruifang Li-Gao  20 Peter K Joshi  21 Stella Trompet  22 Angel Martinez-Perez  4 Mohsen Ghanbari  23 Tom E Howard  24 Alex P Reiner  25 Marios Arvanitis  2 Kathleen A Ryan  10 Traci M Bartz  26 Igor Rudan  21 Nauder Faraday  27 Allan Linneberg  28   29 Lynette Ekunwe  30 Gail Davies  31 Graciela E Delgado  18 Pierre Suchon  32   33 Xiuqing Guo  12 Frits R Rosendaal  20 Lucija Klaric  34 Raymond Noordam  22 Frank van Rooij  23 Joanne E Curran  24 Marsha M Wheeler  35 William O Osburn  2 Jeffrey R O'Connell  10 Eric Boerwinkle  1   36 Andrew Beswick  37 Bruce M Psaty  5   38 Ivana Kolcic  13 Juan Carlos Souto  4   39 Lewis C Becker  2 Torben Hansen  14 Margaret F Doyle  40 Sarah E Harris  31 Angela P Moissl  41   42 Jean-François Deleuze  43   44 Stephen S Rich  45 Astrid van Hylckama Vlieg  20 Harry Campbell  21 David J Stott  46 Jose Manuel Soria  4 Moniek P M de Maat  47 Laura Almasy  48   49 Lawrence C Brody  50 Paul L Auer  51 Braxton D Mitchell  10   52 Yoav Ben-Shlomo  53 Myriam Fornage  1   54 Caroline Hayward  34 Rasika A Mathias  2 Tuomas O Kilpeläinen  14 Leslie A Lange  55 Simon R Cox  31 Winfried März  18   56 Pierre-Emmanuel Morange  32   33 Jerome I Rotter  12 Dennis O Mook-Kanamori  20   57 James F Wilson  21 Pim van der Harst  58 J Wouter Jukema  59   60 M Arfan Ikram  23 John Blangero  24 Charles Kooperberg  25 Karl C Desch  61 Andrew D Johnson  8 Maria Sabater-Lleal  4   62 Charles J Lowenstein  2 Nicholas L Smith  63   64   65 Alanna C Morrison  1
Affiliations

A genetic association study of circulating coagulation factor VIII and von Willebrand factor levels

Paul S de Vries et al. Blood. .

Abstract

Coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) and its carrier protein von Willebrand factor (VWF) are critical to coagulation and platelet aggregation. We leveraged whole-genome sequence data from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program along with TOPMed-based imputation of genotypes in additional samples to identify genetic associations with circulating FVIII and VWF levels in a single-variant meta-analysis, including up to 45 289 participants. Gene-based aggregate tests were implemented in TOPMed. We identified 3 candidate causal genes and tested their functional effect on FVIII release from human liver endothelial cells (HLECs) and VWF release from human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Mendelian randomization was also performed to provide evidence for causal associations of FVIII and VWF with thrombotic outcomes. We identified associations (P < 5 × 10-9) at 7 new loci for FVIII (ST3GAL4, CLEC4M, B3GNT2, ASGR1, F12, KNG1, and TREM1/NCR2) and 1 for VWF (B3GNT2). VWF, ABO, and STAB2 were associated with FVIII and VWF in gene-based analyses. Multiphenotype analysis of FVIII and VWF identified another 3 new loci, including PDIA3. Silencing of B3GNT2 and the previously reported CD36 gene decreased release of FVIII by HLECs, whereas silencing of B3GNT2, CD36, and PDIA3 decreased release of VWF by HVECs. Mendelian randomization supports causal association of higher FVIII and VWF with increased risk of thrombotic outcomes. Seven new loci were identified for FVIII and 1 for VWF, with evidence supporting causal associations of FVIII and VWF with thrombotic outcomes. B3GNT2, CD36, and PDIA3 modulate the release of FVIII and/or VWF in vitro.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest disclosure: C.J.L. received funding in 2020 from Novartis for a research grant. B.M.P. serves on the Steering Committee of the Yale Open Data Access Project funded by Johnson & Johnson. L.M.R. is a consultant for the TOPMed Administrative Coordinating Center through WeStat. R.L.-G. is a part-time consultant for Metabolon, Inc. The remaining authors declare no competing financial interests.

Complete lists of the members of TOPMed and INVENT appear in the supplemental Appendix.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Results of the inverse-variance weighted Mendelian randomization analyses of FVIII and VWF levels on a range of thrombotic outcomes. Odds ratios are shown per 10 IU/dL change in FVIII and VWF levels. (A) FVIII levels. (B) VWF levels.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Candidate genes identified by GWAS regulate FVIII release from HLECs. HLECs were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA), including control siRNA (Scramble Ct), siRNA directed against CD36 (siCD36), siRNA directed against B3GNT2 (siB3GNT2), and siRNA directed against PDIA3 (siPDIA3). The cells were washed and fed with fresh media, cultured for 24 hours, and the media was collected. FVIII concentrations in the cell culture media were measured by enzyme-link immunosorbent assay (n = 6 ± SD; ∗P < .05 compared with Scramble Ct). SD, standard deviation.

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