Genetic investigation of fibromuscular dysplasia identifies risk loci and shared genetics with common cardiovascular diseases
Adrien Georges, Min-Lee Yang, Takiy-Eddine Berrandou, Mark K. Bakker, Ozan Dikilitas, Soto Romuald Kiando, Lijiang Ma, Benjamin A. Satterfield, Sebanti Sengupta, Mengyao Yu, Jean‐François Deleuze, Délia Dupré, Kristina L. Hunker, Sergiy Kyryachenko, Lu Liu, Ines Sayoud-Sadeg, Laurence Amar, Chad M. Brummett, Dawn M. Coleman, Valentina d’Escamard, Peter de Leeuw, Natalia Fendrikova-Mahlay, Daniella Kadian‐Dodov, Jun Z. Li, Aurélien Lorthioir, Marco Pappaccogli, Aleksander Prejbisz, Witold Śmigielski, James C. Stanley, Matthew Zawistowski, Xiang Zhou, Sebastian Zöllner, FEIRI investigators, Peter de Leeuw, MEGASTROKE, Philippe Amouyel, Marc De Buyzere, Stéphanie Debette, Piotr Dobrowolski, Wojciech Drygas, Heather L. Gornik, Jeffrey W. Olin, Jerzy Piwoński, Ernst Rietzschel, Ynte M. Ruigrok, Miikka Vikkula, Ewa Warchol Celinska, Andrzej Januszewicz, Iftikhar J. Kullo, Michel Azizi, ARCADIA Investigators, Xavier Jeunemaı̂tre, Alexandre Persu, Jason C. Kovacic, Santhi K. Ganesh, Nabila Bouatia-Naji
Abstract
Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is an arteriopathy associated with hypertension, stroke and myocardial infarction, affecting mostly women. We report results from the first genome-wide association meta-analysis of six studies including 1556 FMD cases and 7100 controls. We find an estimate of SNP-based heritability compatible with FMD having a polygenic basis, and report four robustly associated loci (PHACTR1, LRP1, ATP2B1, and LIMA1). Transcriptome-wide association analysis in arteries identifies one additional locus (SLC24A3). We characterize open chromatin in arterial primary cells and find that FMD associated variants are located in arterial-specific regulatory elements. Target genes are broadly involved in mechanisms related to actin cytoskeleton and intracellular calcium homeostasis, central to vascular contraction. We find significant genetic overlap between FMD and more common cardiovascular diseases and traits including blood pressure, migraine, intracranial aneurysm, and coronary artery disease.