Association of low-frequency and rare coding-sequence variants with blood lipids and coronary heart disease in 56,000 whites and blacks.
Peloso GM., Auer PL., Bis JC., Voorman A., Morrison AC., Stitziel NO., Brody JA., Khetarpal SA., Crosby JR., Fornage M., Isaacs A., Jakobsdottir J., Feitosa MF., Davies G., Huffman JE., Manichaikul A., Davis B., Lohman K., Joon AY., Smith AV., Grove ML., Zanoni P., Redon V., Demissie S., Lawson K., Peters U., Carlson C., Jackson RD., Ryckman KK., Mackey RH., Robinson JG., Siscovick DS., Schreiner PJ., Mychaleckyj JC., Pankow JS., Hofman A., Uitterlinden AG., Harris TB., Taylor KD., Stafford JM., Reynolds LM., Marioni RE., Dehghan A., Franco OH., Patel AP., Lu Y., Hindy G., Gottesman O., Bottinger EP., Melander O., Orho-Melander M., Loos RJF., Duga S., Merlini PA., Farrall M., Goel A., Asselta R., Girelli D., Martinelli N., Shah SH., Kraus WE., Li M., Rader DJ., Reilly MP., McPherson R., Watkins H., Ardissino D., NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project None., Zhang Q., Wang J., Tsai MY., Taylor HA., Correa A., Griswold ME., Lange LA., Starr JM., Rudan I., Eiriksdottir G., Launer LJ., Ordovas JM., Levy D., Chen Y-DI., Reiner AP., Hayward C., Polasek O., Deary IJ., Borecki IB., Liu Y., Gudnason V., Wilson JG., van Duijn CM., Kooperberg C., Rich SS., Psaty BM., Rotter JI., O'Donnell CJ., Rice K., Boerwinkle E., Kathiresan S., Cupples LA.
Low-frequency coding DNA sequence variants in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 gene (PCSK9) lower plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), protect against risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and have prompted the development of a new class of therapeutics. It is uncertain whether the PCSK9 example represents a paradigm or an isolated exception. We used the "Exome Array" to genotype >200,000 low-frequency and rare coding sequence variants across the genome in 56,538 individuals (42,208 European ancestry [EA] and 14,330 African ancestry [AA]) and tested these variants for association with LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides. Although we did not identify new genes associated with LDL-C, we did identify four low-frequency (frequencies between 0.1% and 2%) variants (ANGPTL8 rs145464906 [c.361C>T; p.Gln121*], PAFAH1B2 rs186808413 [c.482C>T; p.Ser161Leu], COL18A1 rs114139997 [c.331G>A; p.Gly111Arg], and PCSK7 rs142953140 [c.1511G>A; p.Arg504His]) with large effects on HDL-C and/or triglycerides. None of these four variants was associated with risk for CHD, suggesting that examples of low-frequency coding variants with robust effects on both lipids and CHD will be limited.