Meta-analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies Identifies Novel Loci Associated With Optic Disc Morphology.

PubMed ID: 25631615

Author(s): Springelkamp H, Mishra A, Hysi PG, Gharahkhani P, Höhn R, Khor CC, Cooke Bailey JN, Luo X, Ramdas WD, Vithana E, Koh V, Yazar S, Xu L, Forward H, Kearns LS, Amin N, Iglesias AI, Sim KS, van Leeuwen EM, Demirkan A, van der Lee S, Loon SC, Rivadeneira F, Nag A, Sanfilippo PG, Schillert A, de Jong PT, Oostra BA, Uitterlinden AG, Hofman A; NEIGHBORHOOD Consortium, Zhou T, Burdon KP, Spector TD, Lackner KJ, Saw SM, Vingerling JR, Teo YY, Pasquale LR, Wolfs RC, Lemij HG, Tai ES, Jonas JB, Cheng CY, Aung T, Jansonius NM, Klaver CC, Craig JE, Young TL, Haines JL, MacGregor S, Mackey DA, Pfeiffer N, Wong TY, Wiggs JL, Hewitt AW, van Duijn CM, Hammond CJ. Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies novel loci associated with optic disc morphology. Genet Epidemiol. 2015 Mar;39(3):207-16. doi: 10.1002/gepi.21886. Epub 2015 Jan 28. PMID 25631615

Journal: Genetic Epidemiology, Volume 39, Issue 3, Mar 2015

Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common optic neuropathy and an important cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. The optic nerve head or optic disc is divided in two parts: a central cup (without nerve fibers) surrounded by the neuroretinal rim (containing axons of the retinal ganglion cells). The International Glaucoma Genetics Consortium conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies consisting of 17,248 individuals of European ancestry and 6,841 individuals of Asian ancestry. The outcomes of the genome-wide association studies were disc area and cup area. These specific measurements describe optic nerve morphology in another way than the vertical cup-disc ratio, which is a clinically used measurement, and may shed light on new glaucoma mechanisms. We identified 10 new loci associated with disc area (CDC42BPA, F5, DIRC3, RARB, ABI3BP, DCAF4L2, ELP4, TMTC2, NR2F2, and HORMAD2) and another 10 new loci associated with cup area (DHRS3, TRIB2, EFEMP1, FLNB, FAM101, DDHD1, ASB7, KPNB1, BCAS3, and TRIOBP). The new genes participate in a number of pathways and future work is likely to identify more functions related to the pathogenesis of glaucoma.