👤 S-M Saw

Although hundreds of genome-wide association studies-implicated loci have been reported for adult obesity-related traits, less is known about the genetics specific for early-onset obesity and with only a few studies conducted in non-European populations to date. Searching for additional genetic variants associated with childhood obesity, we performed a trans-ancestral meta-analysis of 30 studies consisting of up to 13 005 cases (≥95th percentile of body mass index (BMI) achieved 2-18 years old) and 15 599 controls (consistently <50th percentile of BMI) of European, African, North/South American and East Asian ancestry. Suggestive loci were taken forward for replication in a sample of 1888 cases and 4689 controls from seven cohorts of European and North/South American ancestry. In addition to observing 18 previously implicated BMI or obesity loci, for both early and late onset, we uncovered one completely novel locus in this trans-ancestral analysis (nearest gene, METTL15). The variant was nominally associated with only the European subgroup analysis but had a consistent direction of effect in other ethnicities. We then utilized trans-ancestral Bayesian analysis to narrow down the location of the probable causal variant at each genome-wide significant signal. Of all the fine-mapped loci, we were able to narrow down the causative variant at four known loci to fewer than 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (FAIM2, GNPDA2, MC4R and SEC16B loci). In conclusion, an ethnically diverse setting has enabled us to both identify an additional pediatric obesity locus and further fine-map existing loci. Show less

To identify genes and genetic markers associated with corneal astigmatism. A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of corneal astigmatism undertaken for 14 European ancestry (n=22,250) and 8 Asian ancestry (n=9,120) cohorts was performed by the Consortium for Refractive Error and Myopia. Cases were defined as having >0.75 diopters of corneal astigmatism. Subsequent gene-based and gene-set analyses of the meta-analyzed results of European ancestry cohorts were performed using VEGAS2 and MAGMA software. Additionally, estimates of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability for corneal and refractive astigmatism and the spherical equivalent were calculated for Europeans using LD score regression. The meta-analysis of all cohorts identified a genome-wide significant locus near the platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha ( In addition to replicating a previously identified genome-wide significant locus for corneal astigmatism near the Show less

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on Parkinson's disease (PD) have mostly been done in Europeans and Japanese. No study has been done in Han Chinese, which make up nearly a fifth of the world population. We conducted the first Han Chinese GWAS analysing a total of 22,729 subjects (5,125 PD cases and 17,604 controls) from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, mainland China and Taiwan. We performed imputation, merging and logistic regression analyses of 2,402,394 SNPs passing quality control filters in 779 PD cases, 13,227 controls, adjusted for the first three principal components. 90 SNPs with association P < 10-4 were validated in 9 additional sample collections and the results were combined using fixed-effects inverse-variance meta-analysis. We observed strong associations reaching genome-wide significance at SNCA, LRRK2 and MCCC1, confirming their important roles in both European and Asian PD. We also identified significant (P < 0.05) associations at 5 loci (DLG2, SIPA1L2, STK39, VPS13C and RIT2), and observed the same direction of associations at 9 other loci including BST1 and PARK16. Allelic heterogeneity was observed at LRRK2 while European risk SNPs at 6 other loci including MAPT and GBA-SYT11 were non-polymorphic or very rare in our cohort. Overall, we replicate associations at SNCA, LRRK2, MCCC1 and 14 other European PD loci but did not identify Asian-specific loci with large effects (OR > 1.45) on PD risk. Our results also demonstrate some differences in the genetic contribution to PD between Europeans and Asians. Further pan-ethnic meta-analysis with European GWAS cohorts may unravel new PD loci. Show less

Multiple genetic loci associated with obesity or body mass index (BMI) have been identified through genome-wide association studies conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry. We performed a meta-analysis of associations between BMI and approximately 2.4 million SNPs in 27,715 east Asians, which was followed by in silico and de novo replication studies in 37,691 and 17,642 additional east Asians, respectively. We identified ten BMI-associated loci at genome-wide significance (P < 5.0 × 10(-8)), including seven previously identified loci (FTO, SEC16B, MC4R, GIPR-QPCTL, ADCY3-DNAJC27, BDNF and MAP2K5) and three novel loci in or near the CDKAL1, PCSK1 and GP2 genes. Three additional loci nearly reached the genome-wide significance threshold, including two previously identified loci in the GNPDA2 and TFAP2B genes and a newly identified signal near PAX6, all of which were associated with BMI with P < 5.0 × 10(-7). Findings from this study may shed light on new pathways involved in obesity and demonstrate the value of conducting genetic studies in non-European populations. Show less

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 38 obesity-associated loci among European populations. However, their contribution to obesity in other ethnicities is largely unknown. We utilised five GWAS (N=10 482) from Chinese (three cohorts, including one with type 2 diabetes and another one of children), Malay and Indian ethnic groups from Singapore. Data sets were analysed individually and subsequently in combined meta-analysis for Z-score body-mass index (BMI) associations. Variants at the FTO locus showed the strongest associations with BMI Z-score after meta-analysis (P-values 1.16 × 10(-7)-7.95 × 10(-7)). We further detected associations with nine other index obesity variants close to the MC4R, GNPDA2, TMEM18, QPCTL/GIPR, BDNF, ETV5, MAP2K5/SKOR1, SEC16B and TNKS/MSRA loci (meta-analysis P-values ranging from 3.58 × 10(-4)-1.44 × 10(-2)). Three other single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from CADM2, PTBP2 and FAIM2 were associated with BMI (P-value ≤ 0.0418) in at least one dataset. The neurotrophin/TRK pathway (P-value=0.029) was highlighted by pathway-based analysis of loci that had statistically significant associations among Singaporean populations. Our data confirm the role of FTO in obesity predisposition among Chinese, Malays and Indians, the three major Asian ethnic groups. We additionally detected associations for 12 obesity-associated SNPs among Singaporeans. Thus, it is likely that Europeans and Asians share some of the genetic predisposition to obesity. Furthermore, the neurotrophin/TRK signalling may have a central role for common obesity among Asians. Show less