Common variants in 22 loci are associated with QRS duration and cardiac ventricular conduction.

Abstract

The QRS interval, from the beginning of the Q wave to the end of the S wave on an electrocardiogram, reflects ventricular depolarization and conduction time and is a risk factor for mortality, sudden death and heart failure. We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis in 40,407 individuals of European descent from 14 studies, with further genotyping in 7,170 additional Europeans, and we identified 22 loci associated with QRS duration (P < 5 × 10(-8)). These loci map in or near genes in pathways with established roles in ventricular conduction such as sodium channels, transcription factors and calcium-handling proteins, but also point to previously unidentified biologic processes, such as kinase inhibitors and genes related to tumorigenesis. We demonstrate that SCN10A, a candidate gene at the most significantly associated locus in this study, is expressed in the mouse ventricular conduction system, and treatment with a selective SCN10A blocker prolongs QRS duration. These findings extend our current knowledge of ventricular depolarization and conduction.

• Authors: Nona Sotoodehnia, Aaron Isaacs, Paul I W de Bakker, Marcus Dörr, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Ilja M Nolte, Pim van der Harst, Martina Müller, Mark Eijgelsheim, Alvaro Alonso, Andrew A Hicks, Sandosh Padmanabhan, Caroline Hayward, Albert Vernon Smith, Ozren Polasek, Steven Giovannone, Jingyuan Fu, Jared W Magnani, Kristin D Marciante, Arne Pfeufer, Sina A Gharib, Alexander Teumer, Man Li, Joshua C Bis, Fernando Rivadeneira, Thor Aspelund, Anna Köttgen, Toby Johnson, Kenneth Rice, Mark P S Sie, Ying A Wang, Norman Klopp, Christian Fuchsberger, Sarah H Wild, Irene Mateo Leach, Karol Estrada, Uwe Völker, Alan F Wright, Folkert W Asselbergs, Jiaxiang Qu, Aravinda Chakravarti, Moritz F Sinner, Jan A Kors, Astrid Petersmann, Tamara B Harris, Elsayed Z Soliman, Patricia B Munroe, Bruce M Psaty, Ben A Oostra, L Adrienne Cupples, Siegfried Perz, Rudolf A de Boer, André G Uitterlinden, Henry Völzke, Timothy D Spector, Fang-Yu Liu, Eric Boerwinkle, Anna F Dominiczak, Jerome I Rotter, Gé van Herpen, Daniel Levy, H-Erich Wichmann, Wiek H van Gilst, Jacqueline C M Witteman, Heyo K Kroemer, W H Linda Kao, Susan R Heckbert, Thomas Meitinger, Albert Hofman, Harry Campbell, Aaron R Folsom, Dirk J van Veldhuisen, Christine Schwienbacher, Christopher J O'Donnell, Claudia Beu Volpato, Mark J Caulfield, John M Connell, Lenore Launer, Xiaowen Lu, Lude Franke, Rudolf S N Fehrmann, Gerard te Meerman, Harry J M Groen, Rinse K Weersma, Leonard H van den Berg, Cisca Wijmenga, Roel A Ophoff, Gerjan Navis, Igor Rudan, Harold Snieder, James F Wilson, Peter P Pramstaller, David S Siscovick, Thomas J Wang, Vilmundur Gudnason, Cornelia M van Duijn, Stephan B Felix, Glenn I Fishman, Yalda Jamshidi, Bruno H Ch Stricker, Nilesh J Samani, Stefan Kääb, Dan E Arking
• Journal: Nature genetics (Nat Genet) Vol. 42 Issue 12 Pg. 1068-76 (Dec 2010) ISSN: 1546-1718 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21076409 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• NAV1.8 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel
• SCN10A protein, human
• Scn10a protein, mouse
• Sodium Channels

Topics

• Animals
• Animals, Newborn
• Chromosomes, Human (genetics)
• Computational Biology
• Electrocardiography
• Genetic Loci (genetics)
• Genome-Wide Association Study
• Heart Conduction System (physiology)
• Humans
• Mice
• Mice, Transgenic
• Models, Animal
• Myocytes, Cardiac (metabolism)
• NAV1.8 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel
• Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide (genetics)
• Sodium Channels (genetics)