Genome-wide association meta-analyses to identify common genetic variants associated with hallux valgus in Caucasian and African Americans.

J Med Genet
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Hallux valgus (HV) affects ∼36% of Caucasian adults. Although considered highly heritable, the underlying genetic determinants are unclear. We conducted the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) aimed to identify genetic variants associated with HV.

METHODS: HV was assessed in three Caucasian cohorts (n=2263, n=915 and n=1231 participants, respectively). In each cohort, a GWAS was conducted using 2.5 M imputed SNPs. Mixed-effect regression with the additive genetic model adjusted for age, sex, weight and within-family correlations was used for both sex-specific and combined analyses. To combine GWAS results across cohorts, fixed-effect inverse-variance meta-analyses were used. Following meta-analyses, top-associated findings were also examined in an African American cohort (n=327).

RESULTS: The proportion of HV variance explained by genome-wide genotyped SNPs was 50% in men and 48% in women. A higher proportion of genetic determinants of HV were sex specific. The most significantly associated SNP in men was rs9675316 located on chr17q23-a24 near the AXIN2 gene (p=0.000000546×10(-7)); the most significantly associated SNP in women was rs7996797 located on chr13q14.1-q14.2 near the ESD gene (p=0.000000721×10(-7)). Genome-wide significant SNP-by-sex interaction was found for SNP rs1563374 located on chr11p15.1 near the MRGPRX3 gene (interaction p value =0.0000000041×10(-9)). The association signals diminished when combining men and women.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the potential pathophysiological mechanisms of HV are complex and strongly underlined by sex-specific interactions. The identified genetic variants imply contribution of biological pathways observed in osteoarthritis as well as new pathways, influencing skeletal development and inflammation.

Year of Publication
2015
Journal
J Med Genet
Volume
52
Issue
11
Pages
762-9
Date Published
2015 Nov
ISSN
1468-6244
URL
DOI
10.1136/jmedgenet-2015-103142
PubMed ID
26337638
PubMed Central ID
PMC4864963
Links
Grant list
N01-HC-25195 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
5 P60 AR49465 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
P30 ES010126 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States
P60 AR049465 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
5-P60-AR30701 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
AR047853 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
R01 AR060492 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
P60-AR064166 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
R01 AR047853 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
P60 AR064166 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
AR060492 / AR / NIAMS NIH HHS / United States
N01HC25195 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
K12 DE022793 / DE / NIDCR NIH HHS / United States
KL2 TR000084 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States