Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have not consistently detected replicable genetic risk factors for ischemic stroke, potentially due to etiological heterogeneity of this trait. We performed GWAS of ischemic stroke and a major ischemic stroke subtype (large artery atherosclerosis, LAA) using 1,162 ischemic stroke cases (including 421 LAA cases) and 1,244 population controls from Australia. Evidence for a genetic influence on ischemic stroke risk was detected, but this influence was higher and more significant for the LAA subtype. We identified a new LAA susceptibility locus on chromosome 6p21.1 (rs556621: odds ratio (OR) = 1.62, P = 3.9 × 10-8) and replicated this association in 1,715 LAA cases and 52,695 population controls from 10 independent population cohorts (meta-analysis replication OR = 1.15, P = 3.9 × 10-4; discovery and replication combined OR = 1.21, P = 4.7 × 10-8). This study identifies a genetic risk locus for LAA and shows how analyzing etiological subtypes may better identify genetic risk alleles for ischemic stroke.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1147-1151 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Nature Genetics |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2012 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics