| Title: | Polygenic Risk Score for Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Is Associated With Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease and Enriches for Individuals With Familial Hypercholesterolemia |
| Journal: | Circulation Genomic and Precision Medicine |
| Published: | 13 Jan 2021 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33440130/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1161/circgen.120.003106 |
| URL: | https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIRCGEN.120.003106 |
Publication 3926
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The clinical implications of a polygenic risk score (PRS) for LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) are not well understood, both within the general population and individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). METHODS: We developed the LDL-C PRS using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regression in 377 286 White British participants from UK Biobank and tested its association with LDL-C according to FH variant carrier status in another 41 748 whole-exome sequenced individuals. Next, we tested for an enrichment of FH variant carriers among individuals with severe hypercholesterolemia and low LDL-C PRS. Last, we contrasted the effect of the LDL-C PRS, measured LDL-C and FH variant carrier status on risk of ischemic heart disease among 3010 cases and 38 738 controls. RESULTS: Among the 41 748 whole-exome sequenced White British individuals, 1-SD increase in the LDL-C PRS was associated with elevated LDL-C among both FH variant carriers (0.34 [95% CI, 0.22-0.47] mmol/L) and noncarriers (0.42 [95% CI, 0.42-0.43] mmol/L). Among individuals with severe hypercholesterolemia, FH variant carriers were enriched in those with a low LDL-C PRS (odds ratio, 2.20 [95% CI, 1.66-2.71] per SD). Each SD increase in the LDL-C PRS was associated with risk of ischemic heart disease to the comparable magnitude as measured LDL-C (odds ratio, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.20-1.29] and odds ratio, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.09-1.23], respectively). The LDL-C PRS was not strongly associated with other traditional ischemic heart disease risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: An LDL-C PRS could be used to identify individuals with a higher probability of harboring FH variants. The association between ischemic heart disease and the LDL-C PRS was comparable to measured LDL-C, likely because the PRS reflects lifetime exposure to LDL-C levels.6 Authors
- Haoyu Wu
- Vincenzo Forgetta
- Sirui Zhou
- Sahir R. Bhatnagar
- Guillaume Paré
- J. Brent Richards
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