rs8176749

Gene-centric association study of 18,556 European Americans and 5,047 African Americans identified novel genetic loci associated with Factor VIII coagulant activity (FVIII:C) and von Willebrand factor antigen (VWF:Ag). New associations were found at KNG1 (rs710446, Ile581Thr, p=5.10×10⁻⁷ in EAs; p=3.88×10⁻³ in AAs), VWF (rs7962217, Gly2705Arg, p=6.30×10⁻⁹ in EAs; p=2.98×10⁻² in AAs), TMLHE (rs12557310, p=8.02×10⁻¹⁰ in EAs), and MAT1A (rs2236568, p=1.69×10⁻⁶ in AAs). Variants explained 14.5% of variance in FVIII:C and 15.6% in VWF:Ag.

A genome-wide association study of 83 plasma proteins relevant to cardiovascular disease in 3,394 European subjects identified 79 genome-wide significant loci (p<5e-8), with 55 replicating in independent cohorts (n=2,639). Using eQTL analysis and network methods, the authors proposed plausible causal mechanisms for 25 trans-acting loci including post-translational regulation of KITLG by MMP9 and several receptor-ligand pairs. Multiple loci showed evidence of causal association with coronary artery disease risk.