Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Discovery and refinement of loci associated with lipid levels

Nature Genetics volume 45, pages 1274–1283 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides and total cholesterol are heritable, modifiable risk factors for coronary artery disease. To identify new loci and refine known loci influencing these lipids, we examined 188,577 individuals using genome-wide and custom genotyping arrays. We identify and annotate 157 loci associated with lipid levels at P < 5 × 10−8, including 62 loci not previously associated with lipid levels in humans. Using dense genotyping in individuals of European, East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry, we narrow association signals in 12 loci. We find that loci associated with blood lipid levels are often associated with cardiovascular and metabolic traits, including coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, blood pressure, waist-hip ratio and body mass index. Our results demonstrate the value of using genetic data from individuals of diverse ancestry and provide insights into the biological mechanisms regulating blood lipids to guide future genetic, biological and therapeutic research.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Overlap of loci associated with different lipid traits.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kannel, W.B., Dawber, T.R., Kagan, A., Revotskie, N. & Stokes, J. III. Factors of risk in the development of coronary heart disease—six year follow-up experience. The Framingham Study. Ann. Intern. Med. 55, 33–50 (1961).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Castelli, W.P. Cholesterol and lipids in the risk of coronary artery disease—the Framingham Heart Study. Can. J. Cardiol. 4 (suppl. A), 5A–10A (1988).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Lloyd-Jones, D. et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2010 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation 121, e46–e215 (2010).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Teslovich, T.M. et al. Biological, clinical and population relevance of 95 loci for blood lipids. Nature 466, 707–713 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Barter, P.J. & Rye, K.A. Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibition as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular risk. J. Lipid Res. 53, 1755–1766 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Rahalkar, A.R. & Hegele, R.A. Monogenic pediatric dyslipidemias: classification, genetics and clinical spectrum. Mol. Genet. Metab. 93, 282–294 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Musunuru, K. et al. From noncoding variant to phenotype via SORT1 at the 1p13 cholesterol locus. Nature 466, 714–719 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Voight, B.F. et al. The Metabochip, a custom genotyping array for genetic studies of metabolic, cardiovascular, and anthropometric traits. PLoS Genet. 8, e1002793 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. 1000 Genomes Project Consortium. A map of human genome variation from population-scale sequencing. Nature 467, 1061–1073 (2010).

  10. Sanna, S. et al. Fine mapping of five loci associated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol detects variants that double the explained heritability. PLoS Genet. 7, e1002198 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Devlin, B. & Roeder, K. Genomic control for association studies. Biometrics 55, 997–1004 (1999).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Asselbergs, F.W. et al. Large-scale gene-centric meta-analysis across 32 studies identifies multiple lipid loci. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 91, 823–838 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Welch, C.L. et al. Genetic regulation of cholesterol homeostasis: chromosomal organization of candidate genes. J. Lipid Res. 37, 1406–1421 (1996).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Sarria, A.J., Panini, S.R. & Evans, R.M. A functional role for vimentin intermediate filaments in the metabolism of lipoprotein-derived cholesterol in human SW-13 cells. J. Biol. Chem. 267, 19455–19463 (1992).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Hagberg, C.E. et al. Vascular endothelial growth factor B controls endothelial fatty acid uptake. Nature 464, 917–921 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Ashburner, M. et al. Gene ontology: tool for the unification of biology. The Gene Ontology Consortium. Nat. Genet. 25, 25–29 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Segrè, A.V., Groop, L., Mootha, V.K., Daly, M.J. & Altshuler, D. Common inherited variation in mitochondrial genes is not enriched for associations with type 2 diabetes or related glycemic traits. PLoS Genet. 6, e1001058 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Fitzgerald, M.L., Moore, K.J. & Freeman, M.W. Nuclear hormone receptors and cholesterol trafficking: the orphans find a new home. J. Mol. Med. (Berl.) 80, 271–281 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Rossin, E.J. et al. Proteins encoded in genomic regions associated with immune-mediated disease physically interact and suggest underlying biology. PLoS Genet. 7, e1001273 (2011).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Plyte, S.E., Hughes, K., Nikolakaki, E., Pulverer, B.J. & Woodgett, J.R. Glycogen synthase kinase-3: functions in oncogenesis and development. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1114, 147–162 (1992).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Toker, A. & Cantley, L.C. Signalling through the lipid products of phosphoinositide-3-OH kinase. Nature 387, 673–676 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Kaprio, J., Ferrell, R.E., Kottke, B.A., Kamboh, M.I. & Sing, C.F. Effects of polymorphisms in apolipoproteins E, A-IV, and H on quantitative traits related to risk for cardiovascular disease. Arterioscler. Thromb. 11, 1330–1348 (1991).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Ernst, J. et al. Mapping and analysis of chromatin state dynamics in nine human cell types. Nature 473, 43–49 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. The ENCODE Project Consortium. A user's guide to the encyclopedia of DNA elements (ENCODE). PLoS Biol. 9, e1001046 (2011).

  25. Buyske, S. et al. Evaluation of the metabochip genotyping array in African Americans and implications for fine mapping of GWAS-identified loci: the PAGE study. PLoS ONE 7, e35651 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Palmen, J. et al. The functional interaction on in vitro gene expression of APOA5 SNPs, defining haplotype APOA52, and their paradoxical association with plasma triglyceride but not plasma apoAV levels. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1782, 447–452 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Schunkert, H. et al. Large-scale association analysis identifies 13 new susceptibility loci for coronary artery disease. Nat. Genet. 43, 333–338 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Coronary Artery Disease (C4D) Consortium. A genome-wide association study in Europeans and South Asians identifies five new loci for coronary artery disease. Nat. Genet. 43, 339–344 (2011).

  29. Voight, B.F. et al. Twelve type 2 diabetes susceptibility loci identified through large-scale association analysis. Nat. Genet. 42, 579–589 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Speliotes, E.K. et al. Association analyses of 249,796 individuals reveal 18 new loci associated with body mass index. Nat. Genet. 42, 937–948 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Heid, I.M. et al. Meta-analysis identifies 13 new loci associated with waist-hip ratio and reveals sexual dimorphism in the genetic basis of fat distribution. Nat. Genet. 42, 949–960 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Ehret, G.B. et al. Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. Nature 478, 103–109 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Dupuis, J. et al. New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk. Nat. Genet. 42, 105–116 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Freathy, R.M. et al. Common variation in the FTO gene alters diabetes-related metabolic traits to the extent expected given its effect on BMI. Diabetes 57, 1419–1426 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Clarke, R. et al. Cholesterol fractions and apolipoproteins as risk factors for heart disease mortality in older men. Arch. Intern. Med. 167, 1373–1378 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Willer, C.J. et al. Newly identified loci that influence lipid concentrations and risk of coronary artery disease. Nat. Genet. 40, 161–169 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Voight, B.F. et al. Plasma HDL cholesterol and risk of myocardial infarction: a mendelian randomisation study. Lancet 380, 572–580 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Frikke-Schmidt, R. et al. Association of loss-of-function mutations in the ABCA1 gene with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and risk of ischemic heart disease. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 299, 2524–2532 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Do, R. et al. Common variants associated with plasma triglycerides and risk for coronary artery disease. Nat. Genet. doi:10.1038/ng.2795 (6 October 2013).10.1038/ng.2795

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Demirkan, A. et al. Genome-wide association study identifies novel loci associated with circulating phospho- and sphingolipid concentrations. PLoS Genet. 8, e1002490 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Friedewald, W.T., Levy, R.I. & Fredrickson, D.S. Estimation of the concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma, without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin. Chem. 18, 499–502 (1972).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Price, A.L. et al. Principal components analysis corrects for stratification in genome-wide association studies. Nat. Genet. 38, 904–909 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Kang, H.M. et al. Variance component model to account for sample structure in genome-wide association studies. Nat. Genet. 42, 348–354 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Stouffer, S.A., Suchman, E.A., DeVinney, L.C., Star, S.A. & Williams, R.M.J. Adjustment During Army Life (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ., 1949).

  45. Willer, C.J., Li, Y. & Abecasis, G.R. METAL: fast and efficient meta-analysis of genomewide association scans. Bioinformatics 26, 2190–2191 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Keating, B.J. et al. Concept, design and implementation of a cardiovascular gene-centric 50 k SNP array for large-scale genomic association studies. PLoS ONE 3, e3583 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Schadt, E.E. et al. Mapping the genetic architecture of gene expression in human liver. PLoS Biol. 6, e107 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  48. Chasman, D.I. et al. Forty-three loci associated with plasma lipoprotein size, concentration, and cholesterol content in genome-wide analysis. PLoS Genet. 5, e1000730 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We especially thank the more than 196,000 volunteers who participated in our study. Detailed acknowledgment of funding sources is provided in the Supplementary Note.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Cristen J Willer, Ellen M Schmidt and Sebanti Sengupta: These authors contributed equally to this work.

  2. Cristen J Willer, Michael Boehnke, Panos Deloukas, Sekar Kathiresan, Karen L Mohlke, Erik Ingelsson and Gonçalo R Abecasis: These authors jointly directed this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Cristen J Willer

  2. Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Cristen J Willer & Ellen M Schmidt

  3. Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Cristen J Willer

  4. Department of Biostatistics, Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Cristen J Willer, Sebanti Sengupta, Jin Chen, Jennifer L Bragg-Gresham, Anne U Jackson, Carlo Sidore, Tanya M Teslovich, Michael Boehnke & Gonçalo R Abecasis

  5. Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Gina M Peloso & L Adrienne Cupples

  6. Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Gina M Peloso, Ron Do, Richa Saxena & Sekar Kathiresan

  7. Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Gina M Peloso, Tõnu Esko, Pierre Fontanillas, Cameron D Palmer, Sailaja Vedantam, Joel N Hirschhorn & Sekar Kathiresan

  8. Department of Medical Sciences, Molecular Epidemiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Stefan Gustafsson, Andrea Ganna, Ci Song, Agneta Siegbahn & Erik Ingelsson

  9. Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Stefan Gustafsson, Andrea Ganna, Ci Song & Erik Ingelsson

  10. Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK

    Stavroula Kanoni, Deepti Gurdasani, Inês Barroso, Theodore Papamarkou, Cristina Pomilla, Kathleen Stirrups, Nicholas Wainwright, Elizabeth H Young, Samuli Ripatti, Manjinder S Sandhu & Panos Deloukas

  11. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Andrea Ganna, Patrik K E Magnusson, Ci Song & Nancy L Pedersen

  12. Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Martin L Buchkovich, Ying Wu & Karen L Mohlke

  13. Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Samia Mora, Paul M Ridker & Daniel I Chasman

  14. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Samia Mora, Paul M Ridker & Daniel I Chasman

  15. Service of Medical Genetics, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jacques S Beckmann

  16. Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jacques S Beckmann

  17. Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Services Research, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan

    Hsing-Yi Chang

  18. Department of Epidemiology, Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Ayşe Demirkan, Aaron Isaacs & Cornelia M van Duijn

  19. Department of Neurology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Heleen M Den Hertog, Evita G Van den Herik & Peter J Koudstaal

  20. Medical Research Institute, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, UK

    Louise A Donnelly, Alex S F Doney, Andrew D Morris & Colin N A Palmer

  21. Department of Specialities of Medicine, Cardiology, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland

    Georg B Ehret & François Mach

  22. Center for Complex Disease Genomics, McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Georg B Ehret & Aravinda Chakravarti

  23. Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Tõnu Esko, Krista Fischer, Evelin Mihailov, Markus Perola & Andres Metspalu

  24. Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Tõnu Esko, Evelin Mihailov & Andres Metspalu

  25. Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

    Mary F Feitosa & Ingrid B Borecki

  26. Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Teresa Ferreira, Cecilia M Lindgren, Mark I McCarthy & Erik Ingelsson

  27. Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Ross M Fraser, Jennifer L Bolton, Igor Rudan, Sarah H Wild, James F Wilson, Harry Campbell & Jackie F Price

  28. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Daniel F Freitag, Deepti Gurdasani, Theodore Papamarkou, Cristina Pomilla, Nicholas Wainwright, Elizabeth H Young, John Danesh, Danish Saleheen & Manjinder S Sandhu

  29. Department of Public Health, Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Kauko Heikkilä & Jaakko Kaprio

  30. Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, University College London Institute of Child Health, London, UK

    Elina Hyppönen & Chris Power

  31. Centre for Medical Systems Biology, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Aaron Isaacs & Cornelia M van Duijn

  32. Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Åsa Johansson & Ulf Gyllensten

  33. Uppsala Clinical Research Center, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Åsa Johansson, Agneta Siegbahn & Lars Wallentin

  34. Genome Centre, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Toby Johnson & Patricia B Munroe

  35. Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Toby Johnson & Patricia B Munroe

  36. Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Marika Kaakinen & Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  37. Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Marika Kaakinen, Paul Elliott & Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  38. Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Johannes Kettunen, Markus Perola, Ida Surakka, Aarno Palotie, Kaisa Silander, Jaakko Kaprio & Samuli Ripatti

  39. Public Health Genomics Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Johannes Kettunen, Markus Perola, Ida Surakka, Kaisa Silander & Samuli Ripatti

  40. Department of Internal Medicine II–Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany

    Marcus E Kleber

  41. Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

    Marcus E Kleber & Winfried März

  42. Medical Genetics Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Xiaohui Li, Eric Kim & Jerome I Rotter

  43. MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK

    Jian'an Luan, Claudia Langenberg, Ruth J F Loos, Ken K Ong, Jing Hua Zhao & Nicholas J Wareham

  44. Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere, Finland

    Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen & Terho Lehtimäki

  45. Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Tampere School of Medicine, Tampere, Finland

    Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen & Terho Lehtimäki

  46. Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK

    Massimo Mangino & Tim D Spector

  47. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    May E Montasser, Jeffrey R O'Connell, Braxton D Mitchell & Alan R Shuldiner

  48. Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany

    Martina Müller-Nurasyid, Ann-Kristin Petersen & Christian Gieger

  49. Department of Medicine I, University Hospital Grosshadern, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Martina Müller-Nurasyid

  50. Institute of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Martina Müller-Nurasyid

  51. Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Ilja M Nolte

  52. Division of Endocrinology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Cameron D Palmer, Sailaja Vedantam & Joel N Hirschhorn

  53. Division of Genetics, Program in Genomics, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Cameron D Palmer, Sailaja Vedantam & Joel N Hirschhorn

  54. Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Monserrato, Italy

    Serena Sanna & Carlo Sidore

  55. Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Susan K Service & Nelson B Freimer

  56. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Genetic Epidemiology Group, University College London, London, UK

    Sonia Shah, Meena Kumari, Aroon Hingorani & Mika Kivimaki

  57. Department of Clinical Sciences, Genetic & Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Scania University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

    Dmitry Shungin & Paul W Franks

  58. Department of Odontology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Dmitry Shungin

  59. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Unit of Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Dmitry Shungin & Paul W Franks

  60. Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Universita di Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Carlo Sidore

  61. Department of Medicine Solna, Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Rona J Strawbridge & Anders Hamsten

  62. Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Rona J Strawbridge & Anders Hamsten

  63. Clinical Research Branch, US National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Toshiko Tanaka & Luigi Ferrucci

  64. deCODE Genetics/Amgen, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Gudmar Thorleifsson, Hilma Holm, Kari Stefansson & Unnur Thorsteinsdottir

  65. Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Benjamin F Voight

  66. Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Benjamin F Voight

  67. Human Genetics Center, University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, USA

    Kelly A Volcik & Eric Boerwinkle

  68. HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

    Lindsay L Waite & Devin Absher

  69. MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, London, UK

    Andrew Wong, Ken K Ong & Diana Kuh

  70. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Weihua Zhang & John C Chambers

  71. Ealing Hospital, Southall, UK

    Weihua Zhang, John C Chambers & Jaspal S Kooner

  72. MRC/Uganda Virus Research Institute Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda

    Gershim Asiki, Pontiano Kaleebu, Rebecca N Nsubuga & Janet Seeley

  73. University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK

    Inês Barroso

  74. NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK

    Inês Barroso

  75. Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

    Latonya F Been, Martha L Gravito & Dharambir K Sanghera

  76. Genome Technology Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Lori L Bonnycastle, Narisu Narisu, Amy J Swift & Francis S Collins

  77. Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Milano, Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Brambilla

  78. MedStar Health Research Institute, Hyattsville, Maryland, USA

    Mary S Burnett & Stephen E Epstein

  79. Research Centre on Public Health, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Giancarlo Cesana

  80. Department of Dietetics-Nutrition, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece

    Maria Dimitriou & George Dedoussis

  81. Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany

    Angela Döring & Christa Meisinger

  82. Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany

    Angela Döring

  83. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC Health Protection Agency (HPA) Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Paul Elliott & Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  84. The Laboratory in Mjodd, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Gudmundur Ingi Eyjolfsson

  85. Division of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Bruna Gigante & Ulf de Faire

  86. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Mark O Goodarzi & Michelle R Jones

  87. Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany

    Harald Grallert, Thomas Illig & Norman Klopp

  88. Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Christopher J Groves & Mark I McCarthy

  89. Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional Research, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Göran Hallmans

  90. Department of Clinical Sciences/Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Anna-Liisa Hartikainen & Anneli Pouta

  91. MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK

    Caroline Hayward

  92. Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Dena Hernandez

  93. Center for Biomedicine, European Academy Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC), Bolzano, Italy (Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck).,

    Andrew A Hicks & Peter P Pramstaller

  94. Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yi-Jen Hung

  95. Hannover Unified Biobank, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

    Thomas Illig & Norman Klopp

  96. Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    John J P Kastelein & G Kees Hovingh

  97. Clinical Gerontology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Kay-Tee Khaw

  98. Kuopio Research Institute of Exercise Medicine, Kuopio, Finland

    Pirjo Komulainen, Timo A Lakka & Rainer Rauramaa

  99. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrine and Metabolism, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shih-Yi Lin

  100. Diabetes Prevention Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Jaana Lindström & Jaakko Tuomilehto

  101. The Genetics of Obesity and Related Metabolic Traits Program, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA

    Ruth J F Loos

  102. The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA

    Ruth J F Loos

  103. The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA

    Ruth J F Loos

  104. School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Wendy L McArdle

  105. Institute for Medical Informatics and Biometrics, University of Dresden, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany

    Gabrielle Müller

  106. Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Ramaiah Nagaraja

  107. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Tampere School of Medicine, Tampere, Finland

    Tuomo V M Nieminen

  108. Department of Internal Medicine, Päijät-Häme Central Hospital, Lahti, Finland

    Tuomo V M Nieminen

  109. Division of Cardiology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Tuomo V M Nieminen

  110. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Isleifur Olafsson

  111. Department of Medical Genetics, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Aarno Palotie

  112. Genetic Epidemiology Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK

    Aarno Palotie

  113. Department of Statistical Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Theodore Papamarkou

  114. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland

    Anneli Pouta & Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  115. Cardiovascular Institute, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Daniel J Rader & Muredach P Reilly

  116. Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Translational Research Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Daniel J Rader & Muredach P Reilly

  117. Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Fernando Rivadeneira, Andre G Uitterlinden & Albert Hofman

  118. Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Fernando Rivadeneira & Andre G Uitterlinden

  119. Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI)-sponsored Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging (NCHA), Leiden, The Netherlands

    Fernando Rivadeneira, Andre G Uitterlinden & Albert Hofman

  120. Department of Clinical Sciences/Clinical Chemistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Aimo Ruokonen

  121. National Institute for Health Research Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK

    Nilesh Samani

  122. Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK

    Nilesh Samani

  123. Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Hubert Scharnagl & Winfried März

  124. School of International Development, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Janet Seeley

  125. Department of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Alena Stancáková

  126. INSERM UMRS 937, Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, France

    Laurence Tiret

  127. Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    L Joost van Pelt

  128. LifeLines Cohort Study, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    L Joost van Pelt, Cisca Wijmenga & Bruce H R Wolffenbuttel

  129. Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Cisca Wijmenga

  130. Department of Biological Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gonneke Willemsen & Dorret I Boomsma

  131. Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

    Tom Wilsgaard & Inger Njølstad

  132. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Linda S Adair

  133. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Strasbourg, Faculty of Medicine, Strasbourg, France

    Dominique Arveiler

  134. Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA

    Themistocles L Assimes & Thomas Quertermous

  135. Geriatric Unit, Azienda Sanitaria Firenze (ASF), Florence, Italy

    Stefania Bandinelli

  136. Department of Pathology, Chemical Pathology, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

    Franklyn Bennett

  137. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Murielle Bochud & Pascal Bovet

  138. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Ulm University Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany

    Bernhard O Boehm

  139. Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

    Bernhard O Boehm

  140. Department of Medicine III, University of Dresden, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany

    Stefan R Bornstein & Peter E H Schwarz

  141. Ministry of Health, Victoria, Republic of Seychelles

    Pascal Bovet

  142. Service of Nephrology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Michel Burnier

  143. Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service (NHS) Trust, London, UK

    John C Chambers & Jaspal S Kooner

  144. Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Yii-Der Ida Chen

  145. Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Yii-Der Ida Chen

  146. Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Medical School, Maywood, Illinois, USA

    Richard S Cooper & Bamidele O Tayo

  147. Office of Population Studies Foundation, University of San Carlos, Talamban, Cebu City, Philippines

    Alan B Feranil

  148. Department of Cardiology, Toulouse University School of Medicine, Rangueil Hospital, Toulouse, France

    Jean Ferrières

  149. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Nelson B Freimer

  150. Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    Leif C Groop

  151. Department of Medicine, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Leif C Groop

  152. Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland

    Vilmundur Gudnason

  153. Department of Cardiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Anders Hamsten

  154. Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography and Biometry, National Institute on Ageing, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Tamara B Harris

  155. Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan

    Chao Agnes Hsiung

  156. Cardiovascular Genetics, British Heart Foundation Laboratories, Institute Cardiovascular Science, University College London, London, UK

    Steve E Humphries

  157. Cardiovascular Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Steven C Hunt

  158. Department of Public Health and General Practice, Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) Research Centre, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway

    Kristian Hveem

  159. Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California, USA

    Carlos Iribarren

  160. Unit of Primary Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Marjo-Riitta Järvelin

  161. Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Turku, Finland

    Antti Jula

  162. Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Tampere School of Medicine, Tampere, Finland

    Mika Kähönen

  163. Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Jaakko Kaprio

  164. Department of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu and Clinical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Antero Kesäniemi

  165. National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK

    Jaspal S Kooner

  166. Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, California, USA

    Ronald M Krauss

  167. Department of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Johanna Kuusisto & Markku Laakso

  168. Institute of Regional Health Services Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Kirsten O Kyvik

  169. Odense Patient Data Explorative Network (OPEN), Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Kirsten O Kyvik

  170. Institute of Biomedicine/Physiology, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Kuopio, Finland

    Timo A Lakka

  171. Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Lars Lind, Agneta Siegbahn & Lars Wallentin

  172. Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Nicholas G Martin & John B Whitfield

  173. Synlab Academy, Synlab Services, Mannheim, Germany

    Winfried März

  174. Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

    Colin A McKenzie

  175. INSERM U872, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Paris, France

    Pierre Meneton

  176. Department of Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Leena Moilanen

  177. Department of Neurology, General Central Hospital, Bolzano, Italy

    Peter P Pramstaller

  178. Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

    Peter P Pramstaller

  179. Departments of Medicine, Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, Epidemiology and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Bruce M Psaty

  180. Group Health Research Institute, Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Bruce M Psaty

  181. Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Rainer Rauramaa

  182. Center for Non-Communicable Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan

    Danish Saleheen

  183. Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Danish Saleheen

  184. Unit of Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Veikko Salomaa

  185. South Karelia Central Hospital, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Jouko Saramies

  186. Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden, German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Dresden, Germany

    Peter E H Schwarz

  187. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrine and Metabolism, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

    Wayne H-H Sheu

  188. Geriatric Research and Education Clinical Center, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Alan R Shuldiner

  189. Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Kari Stefansson & Unnur Thorsteinsdottir

  190. Division of Population Health Sciences and Education, St. George's, University of London, London, UK

    David P Strachan

  191. Department of Pharmacological Sciences, University of Milan, Monzino Cardiology Center, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Milan, Italy

    Elena Tremoli

  192. Centre for Vascular Prevention, Danube University Krems, Krems, Austria

    Jaakko Tuomilehto

  193. King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Medicine, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Jaakko Tuomilehto

  194. La Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (RECAVA) Grupo RD06/0014/0015, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain

    Jaakko Tuomilehto

  195. Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Matti Uusitupa

  196. Research Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    Matti Uusitupa

  197. Department of Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Peter Vollenweider

  198. Department of Endocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Bruce H R Wolffenbuttel

  199. Department of Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Population Genetics, National Center for Cardiovascular Investigation, Madrid, Spain

    Jose M Ordovas

  200. Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados)–Alimentacion, Madrid, Spain

    Jose M Ordovas

  201. Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Jose M Ordovas

  202. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Paul W Franks

  203. Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA

    L Adrienne Cupples

  204. Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

    Stephen S Rich

  205. Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Sekar Kathiresan

  206. Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Sekar Kathiresan

Consortia

Global Lipids Genetics Consortium

  • Cristen J Willer
  • , Ellen M Schmidt
  • , Sebanti Sengupta
  • , Gina M Peloso
  • , Stefan Gustafsson
  • , Stavroula Kanoni
  • , Andrea Ganna
  • , Jin Chen
  • , Martin L Buchkovich
  • , Samia Mora
  • , Jacques S Beckmann
  • , Jennifer L Bragg-Gresham
  • , Hsing-Yi Chang
  • , Ayşe Demirkan
  • , Heleen M Den Hertog
  • , Ron Do
  • , Louise A Donnelly
  • , Georg B Ehret
  • , Tõnu Esko
  • , Mary F Feitosa
  • , Teresa Ferreira
  • , Krista Fischer
  • , Pierre Fontanillas
  • , Ross M Fraser
  • , Daniel F Freitag
  • , Deepti Gurdasani
  • , Kauko Heikkilä
  • , Elina Hyppönen
  • , Aaron Isaacs
  • , Anne U Jackson
  • , Åsa Johansson
  • , Toby Johnson
  • , Marika Kaakinen
  • , Johannes Kettunen
  • , Marcus E Kleber
  • , Xiaohui Li
  • , Jian'an Luan
  • , Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen
  • , Patrik K E Magnusson
  • , Massimo Mangino
  • , Evelin Mihailov
  • , May E Montasser
  • , Martina Müller-Nurasyid
  • , Ilja M Nolte
  • , Jeffrey R O'Connell
  • , Cameron D Palmer
  • , Markus Perola
  • , Ann-Kristin Petersen
  • , Serena Sanna
  • , Richa Saxena
  • , Susan K Service
  • , Sonia Shah
  • , Dmitry Shungin
  • , Carlo Sidore
  • , Ci Song
  • , Rona J Strawbridge
  • , Ida Surakka
  • , Toshiko Tanaka
  • , Tanya M Teslovich
  • , Gudmar Thorleifsson
  • , Evita G Van den Herik
  • , Benjamin F Voight
  • , Kelly A Volcik
  • , Lindsay L Waite
  • , Andrew Wong
  • , Ying Wu
  • , Weihua Zhang
  • , Devin Absher
  • , Gershim Asiki
  • , Inês Barroso
  • , Latonya F Been
  • , Jennifer L Bolton
  • , Lori L Bonnycastle
  • , Paolo Brambilla
  • , Mary S Burnett
  • , Giancarlo Cesana
  • , Maria Dimitriou
  • , Alex S F Doney
  • , Angela Döring
  • , Paul Elliott
  • , Stephen E Epstein
  • , Gudmundur Ingi Eyjolfsson
  • , Bruna Gigante
  • , Mark O Goodarzi
  • , Harald Grallert
  • , Martha L Gravito
  • , Christopher J Groves
  • , Göran Hallmans
  • , Anna-Liisa Hartikainen
  • , Caroline Hayward
  • , Dena Hernandez
  • , Andrew A Hicks
  • , Hilma Holm
  • , Yi-Jen Hung
  • , Thomas Illig
  • , Michelle R Jones
  • , Pontiano Kaleebu
  • , John J P Kastelein
  • , Kay-Tee Khaw
  • , Eric Kim
  • , Norman Klopp
  • , Pirjo Komulainen
  • , Meena Kumari
  • , Claudia Langenberg
  • , Terho Lehtimäki
  • , Shih-Yi Lin
  • , Jaana Lindström
  • , Ruth J F Loos
  • , François Mach
  • , Wendy L McArdle
  • , Christa Meisinger
  • , Braxton D Mitchell
  • , Gabrielle Müller
  • , Ramaiah Nagaraja
  • , Narisu Narisu
  • , Tuomo V M Nieminen
  • , Rebecca N Nsubuga
  • , Isleifur Olafsson
  • , Ken K Ong
  • , Aarno Palotie
  • , Theodore Papamarkou
  • , Cristina Pomilla
  • , Anneli Pouta
  • , Daniel J Rader
  • , Muredach P Reilly
  • , Paul M Ridker
  • , Fernando Rivadeneira
  • , Igor Rudan
  • , Aimo Ruokonen
  • , Nilesh Samani
  • , Hubert Scharnagl
  • , Janet Seeley
  • , Kaisa Silander
  • , Alena Stancáková
  • , Kathleen Stirrups
  • , Amy J Swift
  • , Laurence Tiret
  • , Andre G Uitterlinden
  • , L Joost van Pelt
  • , Sailaja Vedantam
  • , Nicholas Wainwright
  • , Cisca Wijmenga
  • , Sarah H Wild
  • , Gonneke Willemsen
  • , Tom Wilsgaard
  • , James F Wilson
  • , Elizabeth H Young
  • , Jing Hua Zhao
  • , Linda S Adair
  • , Dominique Arveiler
  • , Themistocles L Assimes
  • , Stefania Bandinelli
  • , Franklyn Bennett
  • , Murielle Bochud
  • , Bernhard O Boehm
  • , Dorret I Boomsma
  • , Ingrid B Borecki
  • , Stefan R Bornstein
  • , Pascal Bovet
  • , Michel Burnier
  • , Harry Campbell
  • , Aravinda Chakravarti
  • , John C Chambers
  • , Yii-Der Ida Chen
  • , Francis S Collins
  • , Richard S Cooper
  • , John Danesh
  • , George Dedoussis
  • , Ulf de Faire
  • , Alan B Feranil
  • , Jean Ferrières
  • , Luigi Ferrucci
  • , Nelson B Freimer
  • , Christian Gieger
  • , Leif C Groop
  • , Vilmundur Gudnason
  • , Ulf Gyllensten
  • , Anders Hamsten
  • , Tamara B Harris
  • , Aroon Hingorani
  • , Joel N Hirschhorn
  • , Albert Hofman
  • , G Kees Hovingh
  • , Chao Agnes Hsiung
  • , Steve E Humphries
  • , Steven C Hunt
  • , Kristian Hveem
  • , Carlos Iribarren
  • , Marjo-Riitta Järvelin
  • , Antti Jula
  • , Mika Kähönen
  • , Jaakko Kaprio
  • , Antero Kesäniemi
  • , Mika Kivimaki
  • , Jaspal S Kooner
  • , Peter J Koudstaal
  • , Ronald M Krauss
  • , Diana Kuh
  • , Johanna Kuusisto
  • , Kirsten O Kyvik
  • , Markku Laakso
  • , Timo A Lakka
  • , Lars Lind
  • , Cecilia M Lindgren
  • , Nicholas G Martin
  • , Winfried März
  • , Mark I McCarthy
  • , Colin A McKenzie
  • , Pierre Meneton
  • , Andres Metspalu
  • , Leena Moilanen
  • , Andrew D Morris
  • , Patricia B Munroe
  • , Inger Njølstad
  • , Nancy L Pedersen
  • , Chris Power
  • , Peter P Pramstaller
  • , Jackie F Price
  • , Bruce M Psaty
  • , Thomas Quertermous
  • , Rainer Rauramaa
  • , Danish Saleheen
  • , Veikko Salomaa
  • , Dharambir K Sanghera
  • , Jouko Saramies
  • , Peter E H Schwarz
  • , Wayne H-H Sheu
  • , Alan R Shuldiner
  • , Agneta Siegbahn
  • , Tim D Spector
  • , Kari Stefansson
  • , David P Strachan
  • , Bamidele O Tayo
  • , Elena Tremoli
  • , Jaakko Tuomilehto
  • , Matti Uusitupa
  • , Cornelia M van Duijn
  • , Peter Vollenweider
  • , Lars Wallentin
  • , Nicholas J Wareham
  • , John B Whitfield
  • , Bruce H R Wolffenbuttel
  • , Jose M Ordovas
  • , Eric Boerwinkle
  • , Colin N A Palmer
  • , Unnur Thorsteinsdottir
  • , Daniel I Chasman
  • , Jerome I Rotter
  • , Paul W Franks
  • , Samuli Ripatti
  • , L Adrienne Cupples
  • , Manjinder S Sandhu
  • , Stephen S Rich
  • , Michael Boehnke
  • , Panos Deloukas
  • , Sekar Kathiresan
  • , Karen L Mohlke
  • , Erik Ingelsson
  •  & Gonçalo R Abecasis

Contributions

Writing and analysis group: G.R.A., M. Boehnke, L.A.C., P.D., P.W.F., S. Kathiresan, K.L.M., E.I., G.M.P., S.S.R., S.R., M.S.S., E.M.S., S. Sengupta and C.J.W. (Lead). E.M.S. and S. Sengupta performed meta-analysis, and E.M.S., S. Sengupta, G.M.P., M.L.B., J.C., S.G., A.G. and S. Kanoni performed bioinformatics analyses. E.M.S. and S. Sengupta prepared the tables, figures and supplementary material. C.J.W. led the analysis and bioinformatics efforts. E.I. and K.L.M. led the biological interpretation of results. C.J.W. and G.R.A. wrote the manuscript. All analysis and writing group authors extensively discussed the analysis, results, interpretation and presentation of results.

All authors contributed to the research and reviewed the manuscript.

Design, management and coordination of contributing cohorts: (ADVANCE) T.L.A.; (AGES Reykjavik study) T.B.H. and V.G.; (AIDHS/SDS) D.K.S.; (AMC-PAS) P.D. and G.K.H.; (Amish GLGC) A.R.S.; (ARIC) E.B.; (B58C-WTCCC and B58C-T1DGC) D.P.S.; (B58C-Metabochip) C.M.L., C. Power and M.I.M.; (BLSA) L.F.; (BRIGHT) P.B.M.; (CARDIOGRAM) N.S.; (CHS) B.M.P. and J.I.R.; (CLHNS) A.B.F., K.L.M. and L.S.A.; (CoLaus) P.V.; (CROATIA-Vis) C.H. and I.R.; (deCODE) K. Stefansson and U.T.; (DIAGEN) P.E.H.S. and S.R.B.; (DILGOM) S.R.; (DPS) M.U.; (DR's EXTRA) R.R.; (EAS) J.F.P.; (EGCUT (Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu)) A.M.; (ELY) N.J.W.; (ENGAGE) N.B.F.; (EPIC) N.J.W. and K.-T.K.; (EPIC_N_OBSET GWAS) E.H.Y.; (ERF) C.M.v.D.; (ESS (Erasmus Stroke Study)) P.J.K.; (Family Heart Study (FHS)) I.B.B.; (FBPP) A.C., R.S.C. and S.C.H.; (FENLAND) R.J.F.L. and N.J.W.; (FIN-D2D 27) A.K. and L.M.; (FINCAVAS) M. Kähönen; (Framingham) L.A.C., S. Kathiresan and J.M.O.; (FRISCII) A. Siegbahn and L.W.; (FUSION GWAS) K.L.M. and M. Boehnke; (FUSION stage 2) F.S.C., J.T. and J. Saramies; (GenomEUTwin) J.B.W., N.G.M., K.O.K., V.S., J. Kaprio, A.J., D.I.B., N.L.P. and T.D.S.; (GLACIER) P.W.F., G.H.; (Go-DARTS) A.D.M. and C.N.A.P.; (GxE/Spanish Town) B.O.T., C.A.M., F.B., J.N.H. and R.S.C.; (HUNT2) K. Hveem; (IMPROVE) U.d.F., A. Hamsten, E.T. and S.E.H.; (InCHIANTI) S.B.; (KORAF4) C.G.; (LifeLines) B.H.R.W.; (LOLIPOP) J.S.K. and J.C.C.; (LURIC) B.O.B. and W.M.; (MDC) L.C.G. and S. Kathiresan; (MEDSTAR) M.S.B., S.E.E.; (METSIM) J. Kuusisto and M.L.; (MICROS) P.P.P.; (MORGAM) D. Arveiler and J.F.; (MRC/UVRI GPC GWAS) P. Kaleebu, G.A., J. Seeley and E.H.Y.; (MRC National Survey of Health and Development) D.K.; (NFBC1986) M.-R.J.; (NSPHS) U.G.; (ORCADES) H.C.; (PARC) Y.-D.I.C., R.M.K. and J.I.R.; (PennCath) D.J.R. and M.P.R.; (PIVUS) E.I. and L.L.; (PROMIS) J.D., P.D. and D. Saleheen; (Rotterdam Study) A. Hofman and A.G.U.; (SardiNIA) G.R.A.; (SCARFSHEEP) A. Hamsten and U.d.F.; (SEYCHELLES) M. Burnier, M. Bochud and P. Bovet; (SUVIMAX) P.M.; (Swedish Twin Registry) E.I. and N.L.P.; (TAICHI) T.L.A., Y.-D.I.C., C.A.H., T.Q., J.I.R. and W.H.-H.S.; (THISEAS) G.D. and P.D.; (Tromsø) I.N.; (TWINGENE) U.d.F. and E.I.; (ULSAM) E.I.; and (Whitehall II) A. Hingorani and M. Kivimaki.

Genotyping of contributing cohorts: (ADVANCE) D. Absher; (AIDHS/SDS) L.F.B. and M.L.G.; (AMC-PAS) P.D. and G.K.H.; (B58C-WTCCC and B58C-T1DGC) W.L.M.; (B58C-Metabochip) M.I.M.; (BLSA) D.H.; (BRIGHT) P.B.M.; (CHS) J.I.R.; (DIAGEN) N.N. and G.M.; (DILGOM) A. Palotie; (DR's EXTRA) T.A.L.; (EAS) J.F.W.; (EGCUT (Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu)) T.E.; (EPIC) P.D.; (EPIC_N_SUBCOH GWAS) I.B.; (ERF) C.M.v.D.; (ESS (Erasmus Stroke Study)) C.M.v.D.; (FBPP) A.C. and G.B.E.; (FENLAND) M.S.S.; (FIN-D2D 27) A.J.S.; (FINCAVAS) T.L.; (Framingham) J.M.O.; (FUSION stage 2) L.L.B.; (GLACIER) I.B.; (Go-DARTS) C.J.G., C.N.A.P. and M.I.M.; (IMPROVE) A. Hamsten; (KORAF3) H.G. and T.I.; (KORAF4) N.K.; (LifeLines) C.W.; (LOLIPOP) J.S.K. and J.C.C.; (LURIC) M.E.K.; (MDC) B.F.V. and R.D.; (MICROS) A.A.H.; (MORGAM) L.T. and P. Brambilla; (MRC/UVRI GPC GWAS) M.S.S.; (MRC National Survey of Health and Development) A.W., D.K. and K.K.O.; (NFBC1986) A.-L.H., M.-R.J., M.M., P.E. and S.V.; (NSPHS and FRISCII) Å.J.; (ORCADES) H.C.; (PARC) M.O.G., M.R.J. and J.I.R.; (PIVUS) E.I. and L.L.; (PROMIS) P.D. and K. Stirrups; (Rotterdam Study) A.G.U. and F.R.; (SardiNIA) R.N.; (SCARFSHEEP) B.G. and R.J.S.; (SEYCHELLES) F.M. and G.B.E.; (Swedish Twin Registry) E.I. and N.L.P.; (TAICHI) D. Absher, T.L.A., E.K., T.Q. and L.L.W.; (THISEAS) P.D.; (TWINGENE) A. Hamsten and E.I.; (ULSAM) E.I.; (WGHS) D.I.C., S.M. and P.M.R.; and (Whitehall II) A. Hingorani, C.L., M. Kumari and M. Kivimaki.

Phenotype definition of contributing cohorts: (ADVANCE) C.I.; (AGES Reykjavik study) T.B.H. and V.G.; (AIDHS/SDS) L.F.B.; (AMC-PAS) J.J.P.K.; (Amish GLGC) A.R.S. and B.D.M.; (B58C-WTCCC and B58C-T1DGC) D.P.S.; (B58C-Metabochip) C. Power and E.H.; (BRIGHT) P.B.M.; (CHS) B.M.P.; (CoLaus) P.V.; (deCODE) G.I.E., H.H. and I.O.; (DIAGEN) G.M.; (DILGOM) K. Silander; (DPS) J. Lindström; (DR's EXTRA) P. Komulainen; (EAS) J.L.B.; (EGCUT (Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu)) A.M.; (EGCUT (Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu)) K.F.; (ERF and Rotterdam Study) A. Hofman; (ERF) C.M.v.D.; (ESS (Erasmus Stroke Study)) E.G.V.d.H., H.M.D.H. and P.J.K.; (FBPP) A.C., R.S.C. and S.C.H.; (FINCAVAS) T.V.M.N.; (Framingham) S. Kathiresan and J.M.O.; (GenomEUTwin: MZGWA) J.B.W.; (GenomEUTwin-FINRISK) V.S.; (GenomEUTwin-FINTWIN) J. Kaprio and K. Heikkilä; (GenomEUTwin-GENMETS) A.J.; (GenomEUTwin-NLDTWIN) G.W.; (Go-DARTS) A.S.F.D., A.D.M., C.N.A.P. and L.A.D.; (GxE/Spanish Town) C.A.M. and F.B.; (IMPROVE) U.d.F., A. Hamsten and E.T.; (KORAF3) C.M.; (KORAF4) A. Döring; (LifeLines) L.J.v.P.; (LOLIPOP) J.S.K. and J.C.C.; (LURIC) H.S.; (MDC) L.C.G.; (METSIM) A. Stančáková; (MORGAM) G.C.; (MRC/UVRI GPC GWAS) R.N.N.; (MRC National Survey of Health and Development) D.K.; (NFBC1986) A.R., A.-L.H., A. Pouta and M.-R.J.; (NSPHS and FRISCII) Å.J.; (NSPHS) U.G.; (ORCADES) S.H.W.; (PARC) Y.-D.I.C. and R.M.K.; (PIVUS) E.I. and L.L.; (PROMIS) D.F.F.; (Rotterdam Study) A. Hofman; (SCARFSHEEP) U.d.F. and B.G.; (SEYCHELLES) M. Burnier, M. Bochud and P. Bovet; (Swedish Twin Registry) E.I. and N.L.P.; (TAICHI) H.-Y.C., C.A.H., Y.-J.H., E.K., S.-Y.L. and W.H.-H.S.; (THISEAS) G.D. and M.D.; (Tromsø) T.W.; (TWINGENE) U.d.F. and E.I.; (ULSAM) E.I.; (WGHS) P.M.R.; and (Whitehall II) M. Kumari.

Primary analysis from contributing cohorts: (ADVANCE) L.L.W.; (AIDHS/SDS) R.S.; (AMC-PAS) S. Kanoni; (Amish GLGC) J.R.O. and M.E.M.; (ARIC) K.A.V.; (B58C-Metabochip) C.M.L., E.H. and T.F.; (B58C-WTCCC and B58C-T1DGC) D.P.S.; (BLSA) T.T.; (BRIGHT) T.J.; (CLHNS) Y.W.; (CoLaus) J.S.B.; (deCODE) G.T.; (DIAGEN) A.U.J.; (DILGOM) M.P.; (EAS) R.M.F.; (DPS) A.U.J.; (DR's EXTRA) A.U.J.; (EGCUT (Estonian Genome Center of the University of Tartu)) E.M., K.F. and T.E.; (ELY) D.G.; (EPIC) K. Stirrups and D.G.; (EPIC_N_OBSET GWAS) E.H.Y. and C.L.; (EPIC_N_SUBCOH GWAS) N.W.; (ERF) A.I.; (ESS (Erasmus Stroke Study)) C.M.v.D. and E.G.V.d.H.; (EUROSPAN) A. Demirkan; (Family Heart Study (FHS)) I.B.B. and M.F.F.; (FBPP) A.C. and G.B.E.; (FENLAND) T.P. and C. Pomilla; (FENLAND GWAS) J.H.Z. and J. Luan; (FIN-D2D 27) A.U.J.; (FINCAVAS) L.-P.L.; (Framingham) L.A.C. and G.M.P.; (FRISCII and NSPHS) Å.J.; (FUSION stage 2) T.M.T.; (GenomEUTwin-FINRISK) J. Kettunen; (GenomEUTwin-FINTWIN) K. Heikkilä; (GenomEUTwin-GENMETS) I.S.; (GenomEUTwin-SWETWIN) P.K.E.M.; (GenomEUTwin-UK-TWINS) M.M.; (GLACIER) D. Shungin; (GLACIER) P.W.F.; (Go-DARTS) C.N.A.P. and L.A.D.; (GxE/Spanish Town) C.D.P.; (HUNT) A.U.J.; (IMPROVE) R.J.S.; (InCHIANTI) T.T.; (KORAF3) M.M.-N.; (KORAF4) A.-K.P.; (LifeLines) I.M.N.; (LOLIPOP) W.Z.; (LURIC) M.E.K.; (MDC) B.F.V.; (MDC) P.F. and R.D.; (METSIM) A.U.J.; (MRC/UVRI GPC GWAS) R.N.N.; (MRC National Survey of Health and Development) A.W. and J. Luan; (NFBC1986) M. Kaakinen, I.S. and S.K.S.; (NSPHS and FRISCII) Å.J.; (PARC) X.L.; (PIVUS) C. Song and E.I.; (PROMIS) J.D., D.F.F. and K. Stirrups; (Rotterdam Study) A.I.; (SardiNIA) C. Sidore, J.L.B.-G. and S. Sanna; (SCARFSHEEP) R.J.S.; (SEYCHELLES) G.B.E. and M. Bochud; (SUVIMAX) T.J.; (Swedish Twin Registry) C. Song and E.I.; (TAICHI) D. Absher, T.L.A., H.-Y.C., M.O.G., C.A.H., T.Q. and L.L.W.; (THISEAS) S. Kanoni; (Tromsø) A.U.J.; (TWINGENE) A.G. and E.I.; (ULSAM) C. Song, E.I. and S.G.; (WGHS) D.I.C.; and (Whitehall II) S. Shah.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Cristen J Willer, Karen L Mohlke, Erik Ingelsson or Gonçalo R Abecasis.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

B.P. serves on the Data and Safety Monitoring Board of a clinical trial funded by the manufacturer (Zoll), and he serves on the Steering Committee of the Yale Open-Data Project funded by the Medtronic. P.V. received an unrestricted grant from GlaxoSmithKline to build the CoLaus study. G.T., H.H., A.K., K. Stefansson and U.T. are employees of deCODE Genetics/Amgen, a biotechnology company. I.B. and spouse own stock in GlaxoSmithKline and Incyte, Ltd.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Tables 1–14, Supplementary Figures 1–7 and Supplementary Note (PDF 3819 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Global Lipids Genetics Consortium. Discovery and refinement of loci associated with lipid levels. Nat Genet 45, 1274–1283 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2797

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2797

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing