bioRxiv Science⌕ Search

Biology subjects

Bottinger, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Bottinger, E..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Rare coding variants in 35 genes associate with circulating lipid levels: a multi-ancestry analysis of 170,000 exomes

Large-scale gene sequencing studies for complex traits have the potential to identify causal genes with therapeutic implications. We performed gene-based association testing of blood lipid levels with rare (minor allele frequency<1%) predicted damaging coding variation using sequence data from >170,000 individuals from multiple ancestries: 97,493 European, 30,025 South Asian, 16,507 African, 16,440 Hispanic/Latino, 10,420 East Asian, and 1,182 Samoan. We identified 35 genes associated with circulating lipid levels. Ten of these: ALB, SRSF2, JAK2, CREB3L3, TMEM136, VARS, NR1H3, PLA2G12A, PPARG and STAB1 have not been implicated for lipid levels using rare coding variation in population-based samples. We prioritize 32 genes identified in array-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) loci based on gene-based associations, of which three: EVI5, SH2B3, and PLIN1, had no prior evidence of rare coding variant associations. Most of the associated genes showed evidence of association in multiple ancestries. Also, we observed an enrichment of gene-based associations for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol drug target genes, and for genes closest to GWAS index single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). Our results demonstrate that gene-based associations can be beneficial for drug target development and provide evidence that the gene closest to the array-based GWAS index SNP is often the functional gene for blood lipid levels.

genetics↗

Multi-ancestry Genome- and Phenome-wide Association Studies of Diverticular Disease in Electronic Health Records with Natural Language Processing enriched phenotype algorithm

Background and aimsDiverticular disease is among the most prevalent conditions encountered by gastroenterologists, affecting [~]50% of Americans before the age of 60. Our aim was to identify genetic risk variants and clinical phenotypes associated with diverticular disease, utilizing the electronic health record (EHR) with Natural Language Processing (NLP). MethodsWe developed a NLP-enriched phenotype algorithm that incorporated colonoscopy or abdominal imaging reports to accurately identify patients with diverticulosis and diverticulitis from multicenter EHRs. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of diverticular disease in European, African and multi-ancestry participants, followed by phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) of the risk variants to identify their potential comorbid/pleiotropic effects in the clinical phenome. For more in-depth investigation of associated clinical phenotypes, we also performed PheWAS with the previously reported 52 GWAS susceptibility variants for diverticular disease. ResultsAncestry-stratified GWAS analyses confirmed the well-established associations between ARHGAP15 loci with diverticular disease in European cohorts, and found similar positive effect sizes in African cohorts but with non-significant p-values. With overall intensified GWAS signals in diverticulitis patients compared to diverticulosis patients, we found substantial genetic correlations between diverticulosis and diverticulitis, up to 0.997 in European ancestry. PheWAS analyses identified associations between the diverticular disease GWAS variants and circulatory system, genitourinary, and neoplastic EHR phenotypes. ConclusionOur multiancestry GWAS-PheWAS study demonstrated an effective use of multidimensional EHR information in disease case/control classification with NLP for more comprehensive and scalable phenotyping, and implementation of an integrative analytical pipeline to facilitate etiological investigation of a disease from a clinical perspective.

bioinformatics↗

Genetic Diversity Turns a New PAGE in Our Understanding of Complex Traits

Summary/AbstractGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) have laid the foundation for investigations into the biology of complex traits, drug development, and clinical guidelines. However, the dominance of European-ancestry populations in GWAS creates a biased view of the role of human variation in disease, and hinders the equitable translation of genetic associations into clinical and public health applications. The Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study conducted a GWAS of 26 clinical and behavioral phenotypes in 49,839 non-European individuals. Using strategies designed for analysis of multi-ethnic and admixed populations, we confirm 574 GWAS catalog variants across these traits, and find 38 secondary signals in known loci and 27 novel loci. Our data shows strong evidence of effect-size heterogeneity across ancestries for published GWAS associations, substantial benefits for fine-mapping using diverse cohorts, and insights into clinical implications. We strongly advocate for continued, large genome-wide efforts in diverse populations to reduce health disparities.

genetics↗