A new study presages a real aim of genetics: to look at whole populations to in order determine the significance of individual genetic variants for individual health. The research team, whose work is published in Nature Genetics, find six novel genetic variants that are associated with lipid levels, a common indicator of heart or artery disease.
The power of 'genetic microscopes' has increased because the methods are in place to study many thousands of DNA samples. This study, involving over 20,000 samples and researchers from a dozen European countries, is the first to find such lipid–gene links by looking at the general population, rather than patients. The study is has been funded by an EU project, ENGAGE (www.euengage.org)
A search for a lipid–gene link through such large numbers of unselected people has not been published before. The findings increase hopes for improved predictive diagnosis, which could lead to improved public health measures and early prescription of effective treatments.
"Since 2007, human genetics has achieved results that would have been unimaginable only five years ago," explains Professor Leena Peltonen, Head of Human Genetics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and senior author on the study, "but this is merely the dawn of new understanding. New, more powerful studies, such as our work on lipid levels, will illuminate the areas and the variants of our genome that play an important part in human disease."
Human geneticists often carry out case-control studies: researchers examine the genetics of people with a given disease (the 'cases') and compare them to the genetics of apparently unaffected people (the 'controls'). Such studies have been hugely successful in trailblazing discovery of genetic variants associated with common disease. However, because the people participating are not drawn at random, researchers are cautious about extrapolating their findings. If we wish to understand the real impact of the identified gene for a disease risk at the population level for disease risk we need to study population cohorts.
A population-based study, in which no selection is made, should address most of the concerns over case-control studies. However, in these studies, scientists are searching for signs of a genetic effect in a much wider group, most of whom will not have any susceptibility to a particular disease.
"It was important that we should be able to find previously known genetic associations with lipid levels: of the 22 regions we describe, 16 have been described previously," explains Cornelia van Duijn, from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. "This impressive result shows that not only can we find the known genetic associations, but we can also find novel associations in this large-scale collaboration of very diverse population-based cohort studies spanning populations from Lapland to the Dalmatian Islands.
"We will be able to move forward much more quickly if we can look at other diseases in studies such as ours, pooling resources across European populations."
The team were also able to show differences between the sexes: lipid values are known to differ for males and females, as does the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. The team found significantly different sex-specific effects for some genome regions: the two strongest signals were in near HMGCR and NCAN. HMGCR produces an important enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis and is the drug target for statins, commonly used for treating high values of 'bad cholesterol', LDL. The region around NCAN gene has previously been associated with both LDL and triglyceride levels, associated with coronary heart disease.
The results are part of an emerging portrait of genes determining lipid levels: a major aim is to predict more efficiently those at risk of coronary heart disease. The profiles developed using the new genetic variants are better at identifying those at risk of increased lipid levels, but do not yet improve the prediction of artery or heart disease.
Screening for a person with high lipid levels and early treatment with statins is one of the major strategies in the prevention of cardiovascular risk in clinical practice while a healthy diet, weight control and physical activity is the major population level prevention strategy.
"We can be confident that the increased understanding of the control of lipid levels that will come from these genetic discoveries, will, in time, lead to improved ways of treating and preventing heart disease and stroke" explains Mark McCarthy, Robert Turner Professor of Diabetes at the University of Oxford. "In addition, as we become better at identifying those individuals who are at most at risk of these diseases, we should be able to target our therapeutic and preventative efforts more efficiently, perhaps focusing on changing lifestyles in those most likely to benefit".
This work is a collaborative effect of a large group of researchers that was brought together by a research grant from the European Union (Framework 7). This work would not have been possible without the thousands of participants of the various studies in the European Union and Australia.
Notes to Editors
Publication details
Aulchenko YS, Ripatti S. (2008) Genome-wide association study in 16 European population cohorts: Major loci influencing lipid levels and coronary heart disease risk.
Nature Genetics
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.269
A full list of participating Institutions is available at the Nature website.
Websites
http://www.euengage.org/
http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/mccarthy
http://epib.nl/faculty/vanduijn.html
http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Teams/faculty/peltonen/
A full list of funding agencies and acknowledgements are available at the Nature website.
Erasmus MC - University Medical Center Rotterdam
The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Erasmus University Rotterdam and the University Hospital Rotterdam have joined forces to form Erasmus MC. The largest center of its kind in the Netherlands, Erasmus MC provides advanced medical care to 3 million people living in the southwestern part of the Netherlands. Care is organized in three clinical branches: the General Hospital; the Sophia Children's Hospital; and the Daniel den Hoed Oncology Center. Erasmus MC has achieved excellence in many areas, including cardiovascular diseases, oncology, pediatrics, cellbiology & genetics clinical genetics, human reproduction, endocrinology, microbiology, virology immunology hepatology and (micro-)surgery. Erasmus MC is among the top research institutes in the Netherlands and participates in several nationally and internationally recognized research schools. Research activities range from fundamental biomedical research, patient-related research and epidemiology to public health, health care policy and management. Erasmus MC offers basic medical education, followed by specialization tracks to become a general practitioner or a medical specialist. In addition, Erasmus MC offers Master of Science programs, postgraduate courses and researcher training courses. The Erasmus MC employs over 12,000 people and is located at the North bank of the Maasriver in Rotterdam.
Oxford University's Medical Sciences Division is one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe. It represents almost one-third of Oxford University's income and expenditure, and two-thirds of its external research income. Oxford's world-renowned global health programme is a leader in the fight against infectious diseases (such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and avian flu) and other prevalent diseases (such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes). Key to its success is a long-standing network of dedicated Wellcome Trust-funded research units in Asia (Thailand, Laos and Vietnam) and Kenya, and work at the MRC Unit in The Gambia. Long-term studies of patients around the world are supported by basic science at Oxford and have led to many exciting developments, including potential vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and HIV, which are in clinical trials.
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which receives the majority of its funding from the Wellcome Trust, was founded in 1992. The Institute is responsible for the completion of the sequence of approximately one-third of the human genome as well as genomes of model organisms and more than 90 pathogen genomes. In October 2006, new funding was awarded by the Wellcome Trust to exploit the wealth of genome data now available to answer important questions about health and disease.
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.
Journal
Nature Genetics