Science and Research

New genetic signals for lung function highlight pathways and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associations across multiple ancestries

Reduced lung function predicts mortality and is key to the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a genome-wide association study in 400,102 individuals of European ancestry, we define 279 lung function signals, 139 of which are new. In combination, these variants strongly predict COPD in independent populations. Furthermore, the combined effect of these variants showed generalizability across smokers and never smokers, and across ancestral groups. We highlight biological pathways, known and potential drug targets for COPD and, in phenome-wide association studies, autoimmune-related and other pleiotropic effects of lung function-associated variants. This new genetic evidence has potential to improve future preventive and therapeutic strategies for COPD.

  • Shrine, N.
  • Guyatt, A. L.
  • Erzurumluoglu, A. M.
  • Jackson, V. E.
  • Hobbs, B. D.
  • Melbourne, C. A.
  • Batini, C.
  • Fawcett, K. A.
  • Song, K.
  • Sakornsakolpat, P.
  • Li, X.
  • Boxall, R.
  • Reeve, N. F.
  • Obeidat, M.
  • Zhao, J. H.
  • Wielscher, M.
  • Weiss, S.
  • Kentistou, K. A.
  • Cook, J. P.
  • Sun, B. B.
  • Zhou, J.
  • Hui, J.
  • Karrasch, S.
  • Imboden, M.
  • Harris, S. E.
  • Marten, J.
  • Enroth, S.
  • Kerr, S. M.
  • Surakka, I.
  • Vitart, V.
  • Lehtimaki, T.
  • Allen, R. J.
  • Bakke, P. S.
  • Beaty, T. H.
  • Bleecker, E. R.
  • Bosse, Y.
  • Brandsma, C. A.
  • Chen, Z.
  • Crapo, J. D.
  • Danesh, J.
  • DeMeo, D. L.
  • Dudbridge, F.
  • Ewert, R.
  • Gieger, C.
  • Gulsvik, A.
  • Hansell, A. L.
  • Hao, K.
  • Hoffman, J. D.
  • Hokanson, J. E.
  • Homuth, G.
  • Joshi, P. K.
  • Joubert, P.
  • Langenberg, C.
  • Li, X.
  • Li, L.
  • Lin, K.
  • Lind, L.
  • Locantore, N.
  • Luan, J.
  • Mahajan, A.
  • Maranville, J. C.
  • Murray, A.
  • Nickle, D. C.
  • Packer, R.
  • Parker, M. M.
  • Paynton, M. L.
  • Porteous, D. J.
  • Prokopenko, D.
  • Qiao, D.
  • Rawal, R.
  • Runz, H.
  • Sayers, I.
  • Sin, D. D.
  • Smith, B. H.
  • Soler Artigas, M.
  • Sparrow, D.
  • Tal-Singer, R.
  • Timmers, Prhj
  • Van den Berge, M.
  • Whittaker, J. C.
  • Woodruff, P. G.
  • Yerges-Armstrong, L. M.
  • Troyanskaya, O. G.
  • Raitakari, O. T.
  • Kahonen, M.
  • Polasek, O.
  • Gyllensten, U.
  • Rudan, I.
  • Deary, I. J.
  • Probst-Hensch, N. M.
  • Schulz, H.
  • James, A. L.
  • Wilson, J. F.
  • Stubbe, B.
  • Zeggini, E.
  • Jarvelin, M. R.
  • Wareham, N.
  • Silverman, E. K.
  • Hayward, C.
  • Morris, A. P.
  • Butterworth, A. S.
  • Scott, R. A.
  • Walters, R. G.
  • Meyers, D. A.
  • Cho, M. H.
  • Strachan, D. P.
  • Hall, I. P.
  • Tobin, M. D.
  • Wain, L. V.
  • Understanding Society Scientific, Group

Keywords

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease/*genetics
  • Genome-Wide Association Study/methods
  • Humans
  • Lung/*physiopathology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/*genetics
  • Risk Factors
  • Smoking/genetics
Publication details
DOI: 10.1038/s41588-018-0321-7
Journal: Nature genetics
Pages: 481-493 
Number: 3
Work Type: Original
Location: CPC-M
Disease Area: COPD
Partner / Member: HMGU
Access-Number: 30804560
See publication on PubMed

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