Cited by 1,381Genetic Associations and EpidemiologyBlood Pressure and Hypertension StudiesGenetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals

Genetic analysis of over 1 million people identifies 535 new loci associated with blood pressure traits

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the Million Veteran Program, Evangelou, Evangelos, Warren, Helen R., Mosen-Ansorena, David, Mifsud, Borbala, Pazoki, Raha, Gao, He, Ntritsos, Georgios +273 more·2018·Nature Genetics

Abstract

High blood pressure is a highly heritable and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We report the largest genetic association study of blood pressure traits (systolic, diastolic and pulse pressure) to date in over 1 million people of European ancestry. We identify 535 novel blood pressure loci that not only offer new biological insights into blood pressure regulation but also highlight shared genetic architecture between blood pressure and lifestyle exposures. Our findings identify new biological pathways for blood pressure regulation with potential for improved cardiovascular disease prevention in the future.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41588-018-0205-x

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  • The same variant was significantly associated with lower diastolic blood pressure and higher QT interval in previous GWAS.

    “The same variant was also significantly associated with lower diastolic blood pressure and higher QT interval in previous GWAS26,27.”

    From Integrative genomic analyses identify candidate causal genes for calcific aortic valve stenosis involving tissue-specific regulation (2024) · cites this paper as [26]

    The Results and Online Methods report significant genetic associations with diastolic blood pressure, supporting the blood-pressure aspect of the citation. The passages do not identify which variant the citing sentence means or establish that its association is with lower diastolic pressure; they also do not report a higher QT interval for that variant (no page numbers supplied). (LLM, conf=0.72)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • There were multiple shared loci in the CHIP GWAS and a recent GWAS for hypertension.

    “we noticed that there were multiple shared loci in the CHIP GWAS and a recent GWAS for hypertension51”
  • These loci (4q12, 11p15.5, 12p12.2, 22q12.2) were previously associated with pulse pressure in a recent GWAS meta-analysis.

    “which are all loci previously associated with pulse pressure in a recent GWAS meta-analysis26”

    From Integrative genomic analyses identify candidate causal genes for calcific aortic valve stenosis involving tissue-specific regulation (2024) · cites this paper as [26]

    The Results report support for previously published blood-pressure loci, and the Online Methods describe a GWAS meta-analysis that included pulse pressure. Neither passage identifies 4q12, 11p15.5, 12p12.2, or 22q12.2 as previously associated with pulse pressure; searches for those cytobands found no matching passage in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.73)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The ACE locus (lead SNP rs4308) is a pleiotropic locus between AD and SBP, with a conditional posterior probability of colocalization of 0.98.

    “| SBP | ACE | rs4308 | 17 | 61559625 | G/A | +/− | 0.63 | 8.01e−15 | 8.52e−07 | 1.00e−16 | 0.98 | Evangelou et al. [20] |”

    From Multi-trait association studies discover pleiotropic loci between Alzheimer’s disease and cardiometabolic traits (2021) · cites this paper as Evangelou et al. [20]

    The Results report blood-pressure loci generally and identify APOE, not ACE, as a locus associated with both blood pressure and Alzheimer’s disease. Searches for rs4308, the ACE locus, and a 0.98 colocalization probability found no passage in our copy establishing the specific table entry or the claimed colocalization. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The ADAM10 locus (lead SNP rs442495) is a pleiotropic locus between AD and DBP, with a conditional posterior probability of colocalization of 0.88.

    “| DBP | ADAM10 | rs442495 | 15 | 59022615 | T/C | +/+ | 0.65 | 1.98e−10 | 1.31e−09 | 9.71e−05 | 0.88 | Evangelou et al. [20] |”

    From Multi-trait association studies discover pleiotropic loci between Alzheimer’s disease and cardiometabolic traits (2021) · cites this paper as Evangelou et al. [20]

    The Results section on associations with other traits identifies APOE, not ADAM10, as a blood-pressure locus associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Searches of our copy for ADAM10, rs442495, and the 0.88 colocalization probability found no passage addressing the claimed ADAM10–DBP finding. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
Program, T. M. V., Evangelou, E., Warren, H. R., Mosen-Ansorena, D., Mifsud, B., Pazoki, R., Gao, H., Ntritsos, G., Dimou, N., Cabrera, C. P., Karaman, I., Ng, F. L., Evangelou, M., Witkowska, K., Tzanis, E., Hellwege, J. N., Giri, A., Velez Edwards, D. R., Sun, Y. V., Cho, K., Gaziano, J. M., Wilson, P. W. F., Tsao, P. S., Kovesdy, C. P., Esko, T., Mägi, R., Milani, L., Almgren, P., Boutin, T., Debette, S., Ding, J., Giulianini, F., Holliday, E. G., Jackson, A. U., Li-Gao, R., Lin, W.-Y., Luan, J., Mangino, M., Oldmeadow, C., Prins, B. P., Qian, Y., Sargurupremraj, M., Shah, N., Surendran, P., Thériault, S., Verweij, N., Willems, S. M., Zhao, J.-H., Amouyel, P., Connell, J., de Mutsert, R., Doney, A. S. F., Farrall, M., Menni, C., Morris, A. D., Noordam, R., Paré, G., Poulter, N. R., Shields, D. C., Stanton, A., Thom, S., Abecasis, G., Amin, N., Arking, D. E., Ayers, K. L., Barbieri, C. M., Batini, C., Bis, J. C., Blake, T., Bochud, M., Boehnke, M., Boerwinkle, E., Boomsma, D. I., Bottinger, E. P., Braund, P. S., Brumat, M., Campbell, A., Campbell, H., Chakravarti, A., Chambers, J. C., Chauhan, G., Ciullo, M., Cocca, M., Collins, F., Cordell, H. J., Davies, G., de Borst, M. H., de Geus, E. J., Deary, I. J., Deelen, J., Del Greco M., F., Demirkale, C. Y., Dörr, M., Ehret, G. B., Elosua, R., Enroth, S., Erzurumluoglu, A. M., Ferreira, T., Frånberg, M., Franco, O. H., Gandin, I., Gasparini, P., Giedraitis, V., Gieger, C., Girotto, G., Goel, A., Gow, A. J., Gudnason, V., Guo, X., Gyllensten, U., Hamsten, A., Harris, T. B., Harris, S. E., Hartman, C. A., Havulinna, A. S., Hicks, A. A., Hofer, E., Hofman, A., Hottenga, J.-J., Huffman, J. E., Hwang, S.-J., Ingelsson, E., James, A., Jansen, R., Jarvelin, M.-R., Joehanes, R., Johansson, Å., Johnson, A. D., Joshi, P. K., Jousilahti, P., Jukema, J. W., Jula, A., Kähönen, M., Kathiresan, S., Keavney, B. D., Khaw, K.-T., Knekt, P., Knight, J., Kolcic, I., Kooner, J. S., Koskinen, S., Kristiansson, K., Kutalik, Z., Laan, M., Larson, M., Launer, L. J., Lehne, B., Lehtimäki, T., Liewald, D. C. M., Lin, L., Lind, L., Lindgren, C. M., Liu, Y., Loos, R. J. F., Lopez, L. M., Lu, Y., Lyytikäinen, L.-P., Mahajan, A., Mamasoula, C., Marrugat, J., Marten, J., Milaneschi, Y., Morgan, A., Morris, A. P., Morrison, A. C., Munson, P. J., Nalls, M. A., Nandakumar, P., Nelson, C. P., Niiranen, T., Nolte, I. M., Nutile, T., Oldehinkel, A. J., Oostra, B. A., O’Reilly, P. F., Org, E., Padmanabhan, S., Palmas, W., Palotie, A., Pattie, A., Penninx, B. W. J. H., Perola, M., Peters, A., Polasek, O., Pramstaller, P. P., Nguyen, Q. T., Raitakari, O. T., Ren, M., Rettig, R., Rice, K., Ridker, P. M., Ried, J. S., Riese, H., Ripatti, S., Robino, A., Rose, L. M., Rotter, J. I., Rudan, I., Ruggiero, D., Saba, Y., Sala, C. F., Salomaa, V., Samani, N. J., Sarin, A.-P., Schmidt, R., Schmidt, H., Shrine, N., Siscovick, D., Smith, A. V., Snieder, H., Sõber, S., Sorice, R., Starr, J. M., Stott, D. J., Strachan, D. P., Strawbridge, R. J., Sundström, J., Swertz, M. A., Taylor, K. D., Teumer, A., Tobin, M. D., Tomaszewski, M., Toniolo, D., Traglia, M., Trompet, S., Tuomilehto, J., Tzourio, C., Uitterlinden, A. G., Vaez, A., van der Most, P. J., van Duijn, C. M., Vergnaud, A.-C., Verwoert, G. C., Vitart, V., Völker, U., Vollenweider, P., Vuckovic, D., Watkins, H., Wild, S. H., Willemsen, G., Wilson, J. F., Wright, A. F., Yao, J., Zemunik, T., Zhang, W., Attia, J. R., Butterworth, A. S., Chasman, D. I., Conen, D., Cucca, F., Danesh, J., Hayward, C., Howson, J. M. M., Laakso, M., Lakatta, E. G., Langenberg, C., Melander, O., Mook-Kanamori, D. O., Palmer, C. N. A., Risch, L., Scott, R. A., Scott, R. J., Sever, P., Spector, T. D., van der Harst, P., Wareham, N. J., Zeggini, E., Levy, D., Munroe, P. B., Newton-Cheh, C., Brown, M. J., Metspalu, A., Hung, A. M., O’Donnell, C. J., Edwards, T. L., Psaty, B. M., Tzoulaki, I., Barnes, M. R., Wain, L. V., Elliott, P., & Caulfield, M. J.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • Queen Mary University of London (GB)
  • University of Ioannina (GR)
  • Vanderbilt University (US)
  • Emory University (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
  • VA Palo Alto Health Care System (US)
  • University of Tennessee Health Science Center (US)
  • University of Tartu (EE)
  • Lund University (SE)
  • Western General Hospital (GB)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • Wellcome Sanger Institute (GB)
  • Inserm (FR)
  • COMSATS University Islamabad (PK)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • University of Dundee (GB)
  • Centre for Human Genetics (GB)
  • Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
  • McMaster University (CA)
  • University College Dublin (IE)
  • Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (IE)
  • Erasmus MC (NL)
  • Johns Hopkins University (US)
  • Sema4 (United States) (US)
  • University of Leicester (GB)
  • Baylor College of Medicine (US)
  • Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
  • University of Trieste (IT)
  • Institute of Genetics and Cancer (GB)
  • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (GB)
  • Institute of Genetics and Biophysics (IT)
  • IRCCS Materno Infantile Burlo Garofolo (IT)
  • Newcastle University (GB)
  • University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
  • Eurac Research (IT)
  • Uppsala University (SE)
  • Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
  • University of Iceland (IS)
  • Medical University of Graz (AT)
  • The University of Western Australia (AU)
  • Amsterdam Neuroscience (NL)
  • Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (FI)
  • Tampere University (FI)
  • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
  • Framingham Heart Study (US)
  • Fimlab (Finland) (FI)
  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
  • Centro de Investigación en Red en Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (ES)
  • Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • Helmholtz Munich (DE)
  • Fujian Medical University (CN)
  • University of Washington (US)
  • Harbor–UCLA Medical Center (US)
  • Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo (IT)
  • Glenfield Hospital (GB)
  • New York Academy of Medicine (US)
  • Alzheimer Scotland (GB)
  • University of London (GB)
  • German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DE)
  • Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
  • IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele (IT)
  • Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IR)
  • Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (DE)
  • Ealing Hospital (GB)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University Hospital of Basel (CH)
  • University of Sassari (IT)
  • University of Eastern Finland (FI)
  • University of Bern (CH)
  • Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (US)
Corresponding author
  • Elliott, Paul
  • Caulfield, Mark J.
ORCID
Venue
Nature Genetics
Published
2018-09-17
Volume
50
Issue
10
Pages
1412-1425
ISSN
  • 1061-4036 (ISSN-L)
  • 1546-1718
OpenAlex
W2883415719
Cited by
1,381
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 107 · 2025: 181 · 2024: 222 · 2023: 274 · 2022: 211 · 2021: 175 · 2020: 126 · 2019: 74 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 2
FWCI
13.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Locations
  • Nature Genetics (publishedVersion)
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Funders
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 BX003360, I01 CX000982)
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Cisco Systems
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Vanderbilt University
  • Li Ka Shing Foundation
  • Université Laval
  • Wellcome Trust (FP7/2007–2013, WT098017, WT 098051, 213422/Z/18/Z, 090532, MR/M016560/1, 090532/Z/09/Z, 090532/Z/09/, 090532/Z)
  • EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research
  • Alzheimer's Society
  • National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU-2012-10141)
  • Cancer Research UK (FP7/2007-2013, MC_PC_13048, G1000143, C864/A14136, 14136, A14136, RE/13/1/30181, WT098051, 30194, MC-UU_12015/1, MR/L01632X/1)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research (NF-SI-0617-10113, NF-SI-0512-10165, FP7/2007–2013, NF-SI-0611-10170, MR/M016560/1, MC_UU_12015/1, NF-SI-0512-10114, NF-SI-0617-10154, 090532/Z/09/Z., HPRU-2012-10141, RG/13/13/30194, NF-SI-0512-10135, NF-SI-0617-10149, WT098051, NF-SI-0513-10059)
  • British Heart Foundation (MC_PC_13048, 090532/Z/09/Z, MR/L003120/1, SP/13/2/30111, RG/15/12/31616, MR/M016560/1, PG/17/35/33001, FS/12/82/29736, RE/13/1/30181, C864/A14136, RG/13/13/30194, RG/08/014/24067)
  • British Lung Foundation
  • Imperial College London (HPRU-2012–10141, H2020)
  • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
  • King's College London
  • European Commission (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, 654241, 090532/Z/09/Z, LSHM_CT_2006_037197, 661395, 2007–2013, FP7 2007-2013, HORIZON2020, H2020, FP7/2007, MR/M016560/1, H2020‐MSCA‐IF, 601456, H2020-MSCA)
  • Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-14-CE12-0016)
  • ZonMw (91614023, VENI Grant 916.14.023)
  • Public Health England (MR/L01632X/1, HPRU-2012-10141, MR/L01341X/1)
  • Ministero della Salute (RF 2010, RC2008)
  • Novo Nordisk
  • China Scholarship Council (2011632047)
  • Medical Research Council Canada (MC-UU-12015/1, MR/M016560/1, MR/L003120/1, G1000143, MC‐PC_13048, L016311/1, MR/L016311/1, MR/L01341X/1, MR/L01632X/1)
  • Novo Nordisk Fonden (NNF15CC0018486, NNF14OC0009819, NNF15SA0018486)
  • UK Dementia Research Institute
  • National Institutes of Health (1s10od023680-01, 1r01hl120393-01a1, PAH/6635, FP7/2007-2013, CR00.01, H2020, CRR00070 CR00.01, CRR00070, DK062370)
  • Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013, H2020‐MSCAIF‐2014, H2020-MSCA, 654241, MSCA-IF-2014)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/7, MC_UU_12015/1, FP7/20072013, RG/13/13/30194, 13/1/30181, MC_UU_12015/4, MR/L01341X/1, MC_PC_13048, RE/13/1/30181, MR/M004422/1, MR/L01632X/1, MC-U106179471, HPRU-2012-10141, MC_UU_12015/5, MC_UU_12015, MR/M016560/1, MR/N01104X/1, MC_PC_13046, MR/L003120/1, C864/A14136, MR/K026992/1, MC_PC_13040, MC_UU_12015/2, MR/N01104X/2, MR/S003746/1, MC_UU_12015/3, MR/N015746/1, MR/S003061/1, 090532/Z09/Z, MR/R023484/1, WT098051, MR/N003284/1, MR/M501633/1, G1000143, MR/L016311/1, MR/L003120, MR/K007017/1, MC_UU_00007/10)
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/F019394/1)
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ES/S008349/1)
  • National Medical Research Council (NMRC/StaR /0028/2017)
  • Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
  • NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre
  • NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (090532/Z/09/Z)
  • Netherlands Heart Institute
  • NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (MR/L003120/1)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01-HL120393, U01HL130114, U01HL120393, R21HL121429, R01HL105756, U01HL137162, R01HL086694)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (U01HG007417)
  • National Cancer Institute (T32CA160056)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U01DK062370, R01DK096920, 090532, R01DK107786, R01DK110113, R01DK101855, U01DK102163, DK-062370, R01DK075787, P30DK020572, R01DK062370)
  • National Center for Research Resources (M01RR000070)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K12HD043483)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Blood Pressure and Hypertension Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals
Keywords
blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, hypertension, genetic loci, genetic association, blood pressure regulation, cardiovascular risk, lifestyle exposures, European ancestry
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Blood Pressure, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cells, Cultured, Female, Genetic Testing, Genetics, Population, Humans, Hypertension, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genetic Loci, Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

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