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Publication Information
Affiliation
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Authors
Bavaria JE, Bekheirnia MR, Belmont JW, Body SC, Bray M, Coselli JS, Devereux R, Eagle K, Estrera AL, Franco LM, Guo DC, Holmes KW, Isselbacher EM, Johnson RJ, Leal SM, LeMaire SA, Maslen C, McDonald ML, Milewicz DM, Miller CC 3rd, Nguyen M, Pyeritz RE, Russell L, Safi HJ, Seidman C, Seidman JG
Studies
Citation
LeMaire SA, McDonald ML, Guo DC, Russell L, Miller CC 3rd, Johnson RJ, Bekheirnia MR, Franco LM, Nguyen M, Pyeritz RE, Bavaria JE, Devereux R, Maslen C, Holmes KW, Eagle K, Body SC, Seidman C, Seidman JG, Isselbacher EM, Bray M, Coselli JS, Estrera AL, Safi HJ, Belmont JW, Leal SM, Milewicz DM. Genome-wide association study identifies a susceptibility locus for thoracic aortic aneurysms and aortic dissections spanning FBN1 at 15q21.1. Nat Genet 2011 Sep 11;43(10):996-1000.Abstract
Although thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections (TAAD) can be inherited as a single-gene disorder, the genetic predisposition in the majority of affected people is poorly understood. In a multistage genome-wide association study (GWAS), we compared 765 individuals who had sporadic TAAD (STAAD) with 874 controls and identified common SNPs at a 15q21.1 locus that were associated with STAAD, with odds ratios of 1.6-1.8 that achieved genome-wide significance. We followed up 107 SNPs associated with STAAD with P < 1 × 10(-5) in the region, in two separate STAAD cohorts. The associated SNPs fall into a large region of linkage disequilibrium encompassing FBN1, which encodes fibrillin-1. FBN1 mutations cause Marfan syndrome, whose major cardiovascular complication is TAAD. This study shows that common genetic variants at 15q21.1 that probably act via FBN1 are associated with STAAD, suggesting a common pathogenesis of aortic disease in Marfan syndrome and STAAD.