Project description:BackgroundGenome-wide polygenic scores (GPS) integrate information from many common DNA variants into a single number. Because rates of coronary artery disease (CAD) are substantially higher among South Asians, a GPS to identify high-risk individuals may be particularly useful in this population.ObjectivesThis analysis used summary statistics from a prior genome-wide association study to derive a new GPSCAD for South Asians.MethodsThis GPSCAD was validated in 7,244 South Asian UK Biobank participants and tested in 491 individuals from a case-control study in Bangladesh. Next, a static ancestry and GPSCAD reference distribution was built using whole-genome sequencing from 1,522 Indian individuals, and a framework was tested for projecting individuals onto this static ancestry and GPSCAD reference distribution using 1,800 CAD cases and 1,163 control subjects newly recruited in India.ResultsThe GPSCAD, containing 6,630,150 common DNA variants, had an odds ratio (OR) per SD of 1.58 in South Asian UK Biobank participants and 1.60 in the Bangladeshi study (p < 0.001 for each). Next, individuals of the Indian case-control study were projected onto static reference distributions, observing an OR/SD of 1.66 (p < 0.001). Compared with the middle quintile, risk for CAD was most pronounced for those in the top 5% of the GPSCAD distribution-ORs of 4.16, 2.46, and 3.22 in the South Asian UK Biobank, Bangladeshi, and Indian studies, respectively (p < 0.05 for each).ConclusionsThe new GPSCAD has been developed and tested using 3 distinct South Asian studies, and provides a generalizable framework for ancestry-specific GPS assessment.
Project description:ObjectiveTo determine the relationship of a genome-wide polygenic score for coronary artery disease (GPSCAD) with lifetime trajectories of CAD risk, directly compare its predictive capacity to traditional risk factors, and assess its interplay with the Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE) clinical risk estimator. Approach and Results: We studied GPSCAD in 28 556 middle-aged participants of the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study, of whom 4122 (14.4%) developed CAD over a median follow-up of 21.3 years. A pronounced gradient in lifetime risk of CAD was observed-16% for those in the lowest GPSCAD decile to 48% in the highest. We evaluated the discriminative capacity of the GPSCAD-as assessed by change in the C-statistic from a baseline model including age and sex-among 5685 individuals with PCE risk estimates available. The increment for the GPSCAD (+0.045, P<0.001) was higher than for any of 11 traditional risk factors (range +0.007 to +0.032). Minimal correlation was observed between GPSCAD and 10-year risk defined by the PCE (r=0.03), and addition of GPSCAD improved the C-statistic of the PCE model by 0.026. A significant gradient in lifetime risk was observed for the GPSCAD, even among individuals within a given PCE clinical risk stratum. We replicated key findings-noting strikingly consistent results-in 325 003 participants of the UK Biobank.ConclusionsGPSCAD-a risk estimator available from birth-stratifies individuals into varying trajectories of clinical risk for CAD. Implementation of GPSCAD may enable identification of high-risk individuals early in life, decades in advance of manifest risk factors or disease.
Project description:Background Adverse cardiovascular outcomes such as coronary artery disease (CAD) are the leading noncancer causes of morbidity and mortality among childhood cancer survivors. Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the role of a genome-wide polygenic score (GPS) for CAD, well validated in the general population, and its interplay with cancer-related risk factors among childhood cancer survivors. Methods In a cohort study of 2,472 5-year childhood cancer survivors from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort, the association between the GPS and the risk of CAD was performed using Cox regression models adjusted for age at cancer diagnosis, sex, cumulative dose of anthracyclines, and mean heart radiation dose. Results Among survivors of European ancestry, the GPS was significantly associated with the risk of CAD (HR per 1 SD of the GPS: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.04-1.49; P = 0.014). Compared with the first tertile, survivors in the upper tertile had a greater risk of CAD (1.51-fold higher HR of CAD [95% CI: 0.96-2.37; P = 0.074]), although the difference was not statistically significant. The GPS-CAD association was stronger among survivors diagnosed with cancer at age <10 years exposed to >25 Gy heart radiation (HR top vs. bottom tertile of GPS: 15.49; 95% CI: 5.24-45.52; Ptrend = 0.005) but not among those diagnosed at age ≥10 years (Ptrend ≥ 0.77) and not among those diagnosed at age <10 years exposed to ≤25 Gy heart radiation (Ptrend = 0.23). Among high-risk survivors, defined by an estimated relative hazard ≥3.0 from fitted Cox models including clinical risk factors alone, the cumulative incidence of CAD at 40 years from diagnosis was 29% (95% CI: 13%-45%). After incorporating the GPS into the model, the cumulative incidence increased to 48% (95% CI: 26%-69%). Conclusions Childhood cancer survivors are at risk for premature CAD. A GPS may help identify those who may benefit from targeted screening and personalized preventive interventions. Central Illustration
Project description:BackgroundThe value of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) towards improving guideline-recommended clinical risk models for coronary artery disease (CAD) prediction is controversial. Here we examine whether an integrated polygenic risk score improves the prediction of CAD beyond pooled cohort equations. METHODS: An observation study of 291,305 unrelated White British UK Biobank participants enrolled from 2006 to 2010 was conducted. A case-control sample of 9499 prevalent CAD cases and an equal number of randomly selected controls was used for tuning and integrating of the polygenic risk scores. A separate cohort of 272,307 individuals (with follow-up to 2020) was used to examine the risk prediction performance of pooled cohort equations, integrated polygenic risk score, and PRS-enhanced pooled cohort equation for incident CAD cases. The performance of each model was analyzed by discrimination and risk reclassification using a 7.5% threshold.ResultsIn the cohort of 272,307 individuals (mean age, 56.7 years) used to analyze predictive accuracy, there were 7036 incident CAD cases over a 12-year follow-up period. Model discrimination was tested for integrated polygenic risk score, pooled cohort equation, and PRS-enhanced pooled cohort equation with reported C-statistics of 0.640 (95% CI, 0.634-0.646), 0.718 (95% CI, 0.713-0.723), and 0.753 (95% CI, 0.748-0.758), respectively. Risk reclassification for the addition of the integrated polygenic risk score to the pooled cohort equation at a 7.5% risk threshold resulted in a net reclassification improvement of 0.117 (95% CI, 0.102 to 0.129) for cases and - 0.023 (95% CI, - 0.025 to - 0.022) for noncases [overall: 0.093 (95% CI, 0.08 to 0.104)]. For incident CAD cases, this represented 14.2% correctly reclassified to the higher-risk category and 2.6% incorrectly reclassified to the lower-risk category.ConclusionsAddition of the integrated polygenic risk score for CAD to the pooled cohort questions improves the predictive accuracy for incident CAD and clinical risk classification in the White British from the UK Biobank. These findings suggest that an integrated polygenic risk score may enhance CAD risk prediction and screening in the White British population.
Project description:Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common complex condition associated with high morbidity and mortality. Polygenic prediction could enhance CKD screening and prevention; however, this approach has not been optimized for ancestrally diverse populations. By combining APOL1 risk genotypes with genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of kidney function, we designed, optimized and validated a genome-wide polygenic score (GPS) for CKD. The new GPS was tested in 15 independent cohorts, including 3 cohorts of European ancestry (n = 97,050), 6 cohorts of African ancestry (n = 14,544), 4 cohorts of Asian ancestry (n = 8,625) and 2 admixed Latinx cohorts (n = 3,625). We demonstrated score transferability with reproducible performance across all tested cohorts. The top 2% of the GPS was associated with nearly threefold increased risk of CKD across ancestries. In African ancestry cohorts, the APOL1 risk genotype and polygenic component of the GPS had additive effects on the risk of CKD.
Project description:Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a multifactorial disease with environmental and genetic determinants. The genetic determinants of CAD have previously been explored by the candidate gene approach. Recently, the data from the International HapMap Project and the development of dense genotyping chips have enabled us to perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on a large number of subjects without bias towards any particular candidate genes. In 2007, three chip-based GWAS simultaneously revealed the significant association between common variants on chromosome 9p21 and CAD. This association was replicated among other ethnic groups and also in a meta-analysis. Further investigations have detected several other candidate loci associated with CAD. The chip-based GWAS approach has identified novel and unbiased genetic determinants of CAD and these insights provide the important direction to better understand the pathogenesis of CAD and to develop new and improved preventive measures and treatments for CAD.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Hyperlipidemia is a highly heritable risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). While monogenic familial hypercholesterolemia associates with severely increased CAD risk, it remains less clear to what extent a high polygenic load of a large number of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol (LDL-C) or triglyceride (TG)-increasing variants associates with increased CAD risk. METHODS:We derived polygenic risk scores (PRSs) with ?6M variants separately for LDL-C and TG with weights from a UK Biobank-based genome-wide association study with ?324K samples. We evaluated the impact of polygenic hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia to lipid levels in 27 039 individuals from the National FINRISK Study (FINRISK) cohort and to CAD risk in 135 638 individuals (13 753 CAD cases) from the FinnGen project (FinnGen). RESULTS:In FINRISK, median LDL-C was 3.39 (95% CI, 3.38-3.40) mmol/L, and it ranged from 2.87 (95% CI, 2.82-2.94) to 3.78 (95% CI, 3.71-3.83) mmol/L between the lowest and highest 5% of the LDL-C PRS distribution. Median TG was 1.19 (95% CI, 1.18-1.20) mmol/L, ranging from 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94-1.00) to 1.55 (95% CI, 1.48-1.61) mmol/L with the TG PRS. In FinnGen, comparing the highest 5% of the PRS to the lowest 95%, CAD odds ratio was 1.36 (95% CI, 1.24-1.49) for the LDL-C PRS and 1.31 (95% CI, 1.19-1.43) for the TG PRS. These estimates were only slightly attenuated when adjusting for a CAD PRS (odds ratio, 1.26 [95% CI, 1.16-1.38] for LDL-C and 1.24 [95% CI, 1.13-1.36] for TG PRS). CONCLUSIONS:The CAD risk associated with a high polygenic load for lipid-increasing variants was proportional to their impact on lipid levels and partially overlapping with a CAD PRS. In contrast with a PRS for CAD, the lipid PRSs point to known and directly modifiable risk factors providing additional guidance for clinical translation.
Project description:IntroductionGenetic loci for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been identified in whites of European ancestry, but the genetic architecture of AD among other populations is less understood.MethodsWe conducted a transethnic genome-wide association study (GWAS) for late-onset AD in Stage 1 sample including whites of European Ancestry, African-Americans, Japanese, and Israeli-Arabs assembled by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium. Suggestive results from Stage 1 from novel loci were followed up using summarized results in the International Genomics Alzheimer's Project GWAS dataset.ResultsGenome-wide significant (GWS) associations in single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based tests (P < 5 × 10-8) were identified for SNPs in PFDN1/HBEGF, USP6NL/ECHDC3, and BZRAP1-AS1 and for the interaction of the (apolipoprotein E) APOE ε4 allele with NFIC SNP. We also obtained GWS evidence (P < 2.7 × 10-6) for gene-based association in the total sample with a novel locus, TPBG (P = 1.8 × 10-6).DiscussionOur findings highlight the value of transethnic studies for identifying novel AD susceptibility loci.
Project description:ImportanceThe incremental value of polygenic risk scores in addition to well-established risk prediction models for coronary artery disease (CAD) is uncertain.ObjectiveTo examine whether a polygenic risk score for CAD improves risk prediction beyond pooled cohort equations.Design, setting, and participantsObservational study of UK Biobank participants enrolled from 2006 to 2010. A case-control sample of 15 947 prevalent CAD cases and equal number of age and sex frequency-matched controls was used to optimize the predictive performance of a polygenic risk score for CAD based on summary statistics from published genome-wide association studies. A separate cohort of 352 660 individuals (with follow-up to 2017) was used to evaluate the predictive accuracy of the polygenic risk score, pooled cohort equations, and both combined for incident CAD.ExposuresPolygenic risk score for CAD, pooled cohort equations, and both combined.Main outcomes and measuresCAD (myocardial infarction and its related sequelae). Discrimination, calibration, and reclassification using a risk threshold of 7.5% were assessed.ResultsIn the cohort of 352 660 participants (mean age, 55.9 years; 205 297 women [58.2%]) used to evaluate the predictive accuracy of the examined models, there were 6272 incident CAD events over a median of 8 years of follow-up. CAD discrimination for polygenic risk score, pooled cohort equations, and both combined resulted in C statistics of 0.61 (95% CI, 0.60 to 0.62), 0.76 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.77), and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.77 to 0.79), respectively. The change in C statistic between the latter 2 models was 0.02 (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.03). Calibration of the models showed overestimation of risk by pooled cohort equations, which was corrected after recalibration. Using a risk threshold of 7.5%, addition of the polygenic risk score to pooled cohort equations resulted in a net reclassification improvement of 4.4% (95% CI, 3.5% to 5.3%) for cases and -0.4% (95% CI, -0.5% to -0.4%) for noncases (overall net reclassification improvement, 4.0% [95% CI, 3.1% to 4.9%]).Conclusions and relevanceThe addition of a polygenic risk score for CAD to pooled cohort equations was associated with a statistically significant, yet modest, improvement in the predictive accuracy for incident CAD and improved risk stratification for only a small proportion of individuals. The use of genetic information over the pooled cohort equations model warrants further investigation before clinical implementation.
Project description:Coronary artery disease (CAD), one of the leading causes of death globally, is influenced by both environmental and genetic risk factors. Gene-centric genome-wide association studies (GWAS) involving cases and controls have been remarkably successful in identifying genetic loci contributing to CAD. Modern in silico platforms, such as candidate gene prediction tools, permit a systematic analysis of GWAS data to identify candidate genes for complex diseases like CAD. Subsequent integration of drug-target data from drug databases with the predicted candidate genes can potentially identify novel therapeutics suitable for repositioning towards treatment of CAD.Previously, we were able to predict 264 candidate genes and 104 potential therapeutic targets for CAD using Gentrepid (http://www.gentrepid.org), a candidate gene prediction platform with two bioinformatic modules to reanalyze Wellcome Trust Case-Control Consortium GWAS data. In an expanded study, using five bioinformatic modules on the same data, Gentrepid predicted 647 candidate genes and successfully replicated 55% of the candidate genes identified by the more powerful CARDIoGRAMplusC4D consortium meta-analysis. Hence, Gentrepid was capable of enhancing lower quality genotype-phenotype data, using an independent knowledgebase of existing biological data. Here, we used our methodology to integrate drug data from three drug databases: the Therapeutic Target Database, PharmGKB and Drug Bank, with the 647 candidate gene predictions from Gentrepid. We utilized known CAD targets, the scientific literature, existing drug data and the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D meta-analysis study as benchmarks to validate Gentrepid predictions for CAD.Our analysis identified a total of 184 predicted candidate genes as novel therapeutic targets for CAD, and 981 novel therapeutics feasible for repositioning in clinical trials towards treatment of CAD. The benchmarks based on known CAD targets and the scientific literature showed that our results were significant (p < 0.05).We have demonstrated that available drugs may potentially be repositioned as novel therapeutics for the treatment of CAD. Drug repositioning can save valuable time and money spent on preclinical and phase I clinical studies.