Meta-analysis identifies 13 new loci associated with waist-hip ratio and reveals sexual dimorphism in the genetic basis of fat distribution

doi:10.1038/ng.685

Nat Genet. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 May 1.

Published in final edited form as:

Nat Genet. 2010 November; 42(11): 949–960.

Published online 2010 October 10. doi: 10.1038/ng.685

PMCID: PMC3000924

NIHMSID: NIHMS236827

UKMSID: UKMS33585

Meta-analysis identifies 13 new loci associated with waist-hip ratio and reveals sexual dimorphism in the genetic basis of fat distribution

Iris M Heid,^1,^2,²¹⁴ Anne U Jackson,^3,²¹⁴ Joshua C Randall,^4,²¹⁴ Thomas W Winkler,^1,²¹⁴ Lu Qi,^5,^6,²¹⁴ Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir,^7,²¹⁴ Gudmar Thorleifsson,^7,²¹⁴ M Carola Zillikens,^8,⁹ Elizabeth K Speliotes,^10,¹¹ Reedik Mägi,⁴ Tsegaselassie Workalemahu,⁵ Charles C White,¹² Nabila Bouatia-Naji,^13,¹⁴ Tamara B Harris,¹⁵ Sonja I Berndt,¹⁶ Erik Ingelsson,¹⁷ Cristen J Willer,³ Michael N Weedon,¹⁸ Jian’An Luan,¹⁹ Sailaja Vedantam,^10,²⁰ Tõnu Esko,^21,²³ Tuomas O Kilpeläinen,¹⁹ Zoltán Kutalik,^24,²⁵ Shengxu Li,¹⁹ Keri L Monda,²⁶ Anna L Dixon,²⁷ Christopher C Holmes,^28,²⁹ Lee M Kaplan,^11,^30,³¹ Liming Liang,^32,³³ Josine L Min,³⁴ Miriam F Moffatt,³⁵ Cliona Molony,³⁶ George Nicholson,²⁹ Eric E Schadt,^37,³⁸ Krina T Zondervan,³⁹ Mary F Feitosa,⁴⁰ Teresa Ferreira,⁴ Hana Lango Allen,¹⁸ Robert J Weyant,³ Eleanor Wheeler,⁴¹ Andrew R Wood,¹⁸ MAGIC,⁴² Karol Estrada,^8,^9,⁴³ Michael E Goddard,^44,⁴⁵ Guillaume Lettre,^46,⁴⁷ Massimo Mangino,⁴⁸ Dale R Nyholt,⁴⁹ Shaun Purcell,^50,⁵² Albert Vernon Smith,^53,⁵⁴ Peter M Visscher,⁵⁵ Jian Yang,⁵⁵ Steven A McCarroll,^50,^56,⁵⁷ James Nemesh,⁵⁶ Benjamin F Voight,^50,^56,⁵⁷ Devin Absher,⁵⁸ Najaf Amin,⁴³ Thor Aspelund,^53,⁵⁴ Lachlan Coin,⁵⁹ Nicole L Glazer,^60,⁶¹ Caroline Hayward,⁶² Nancy L Heard-costa,⁶³ Jouke-Jan Hottenga,⁶⁴ Åsa Johansson,^65,⁶⁶ Toby Johnson,^24,^25,^67,⁶⁸ Marika Kaakinen,^69,⁷⁰ Karen Kapur,^24,²⁵ Shamika Ketkar,⁴⁰ Joshua W Knowles,⁷¹ Peter Kraft,^32,³³ Aldi T Kraja,⁴⁰ Claudia Lamina,^2,⁷² Michael F Leitzmann,¹ Barbara McKnight,⁷³ Andrew P Morris,⁴ Ken K Ong,¹⁹ John R B Perry,¹⁸ Marjolein J Peters,^8,⁹ Ozren Polasek,^74,⁷⁵ Inga Prokopenko,^4,⁷⁶ Nigel W Rayner,^4,⁷⁶ Samuli Ripatti,^77,⁷⁸ Fernando Rivadeneira,^8,^9,⁴³ Neil R Robertson,^4,⁷⁶ Serena Sanna,⁷⁹ Ulla Sovio,⁵⁹ Ida Surakka,^77,⁷⁸ Alexander Teumer,⁸⁰ Sophie van Wingerden,⁴³ Veronique Vitart,⁶² Jing Hua Zhao,¹⁹ Christine Cavalcanti-Proença,^13,¹⁴ Peter S Chines,⁸¹ Eva Fisher,⁸² Jennifer R Kulzer,⁸³ Cecile Lecoeur,^13,¹⁴ Narisu Narisu,⁸¹ Camilla Sandholt,⁸⁴ Laura J Scott,³ Kaisa Silander,^77,⁷⁸ Klaus Stark,⁸⁵ Mari-Liis Tammesoo,²¹ Tanya M Teslovich,³ Nicholas John Timpson,⁸⁶ Richard M Watanabe,^87,⁸⁸ Ryan Welch,³ Daniel I Chasman,^30,⁸⁹ Matthew N Cooper,⁹⁰ John-Olov Jansson,⁹¹ Johannes Kettunen,^77,⁷⁸ Robert W Lawrence,⁹⁰ Niina Pellikka,^77,⁷⁸ Markus Perola,^77,⁷⁸ Liesbeth Vandenput,⁹² Helene Alavere,²¹ Peter Almgren,⁹³ Larry D Atwood,⁶³ Amanda J Bennett,⁷⁶ Reiner Biffar,⁹⁴ Lori L Bonnycastle,⁸¹ Stefan R Bornstein,⁹⁵ Thomas A Buchanan,^87,⁹⁶ Harry Campbell,⁹⁷ Ian N M Day,⁸⁶ Mariano Dei,⁷⁹ Marcus Dörr,⁹⁸ Paul Elliott,^59,⁹⁹ Michael R Erdos,⁸¹ Johan G Eriksson,^100,¹⁰⁴ Nelson B Freimer,¹⁰⁵ Mao Fu,¹⁰⁶ Stefan Gaget,^13,¹⁴ Eco J C Geus,⁶⁴ Anette P Gjesing,⁸⁴ Harald Grallert,² Jürgen Gräßler,¹⁰⁷ Christopher J Groves,⁷⁶ Candace Guiducci,¹⁰ Anna-Liisa Hartikainen,¹⁰⁸ Neelam Hassanali,⁷⁶ Aki S Havulinna,¹⁰⁹ Karl-Heinz Herzig,^70,^110,¹¹¹ Andrew A Hicks,¹¹² Jennie Hui,^90,^113,¹¹⁴ Wilmar Igl,⁶⁵ Pekka Jousilahti,¹⁰⁹ Antti Jula,¹¹⁵ Eero Kajantie,^101,¹¹⁶ Leena Kinnunen,¹¹⁷ Ivana Kolcic,⁷⁴ Seppo Koskinen,¹⁰⁹ Peter Kovacs,¹¹⁸ Heyo K Kroemer,¹¹⁹ Vjekoslav Krzelj,¹²⁰ Johanna Kuusisto,¹²¹ Kirsti Kvaloy,¹²² Jaana Laitinen,¹²³ Olivier Lantieri,¹²⁴ G Mark Lathrop,¹²⁵ Marja-Liisa Lokki,¹²⁶ Robert N Luben,¹²⁷ Barbara Ludwig,⁹⁵ Wendy L McArdle,¹²⁸ Anne McCarthy,¹²⁹ Mario A Morken,⁸¹ Mari Nelis,^21,²³ Matt J Neville,⁷⁶ Guillaume Paré,¹³⁰ Alex N Parker,¹³¹ John F Peden,^4,¹³² Irene Pichler,¹¹² Kirsi H Pietiläinen,^133,¹³⁴ Carl G P Platou,^122,¹³⁵ Anneli Pouta,^108,¹³⁶ Martin Ridderstråle,¹³⁷ Nilesh J Samani,^138,¹³⁹ Jouko Saramies,¹⁴⁰ Juha Sinisalo,¹⁴¹ Jan H Smit,¹⁴² Rona J Strawbridge,¹⁴³ Heather M Stringham,³ Amy J Swift,⁸¹ Maris Teder-Laving,^22,²³ Brian Thomson,¹⁰ Gianluca Usala,⁷⁹ Joyce B J van Meurs,^8,^9,⁴³ Gert-Jan van Ommen,^144,¹⁴⁵ Vincent Vatin,^13,¹⁴ Claudia B Volpato,¹¹² Henri Wallaschofski,¹⁴⁶ G Bragi Walters,⁷ Elisabeth Widen,⁷⁷ Sarah H Wild,⁹⁷ Gonneke Willemsen,⁶⁴ Daniel R Witte,¹⁴⁷ Lina Zgaga,⁷⁴ Paavo Zitting,¹⁴⁸ John P Beilby,^113,^114,¹⁴⁹ Alan L James,^114,¹⁵⁰ Mika Kähönen,¹⁵¹ Terho Lehtimäki,¹⁵² Markku S Nieminen,¹⁴¹ Claes Ohlsson,⁹² Lyle J Palmer,^90,¹¹⁴ Olli Raitakari,^153,¹⁵⁴ Paul M Ridker,^30,⁸⁹ Michael Stumvoll,^155,¹⁵⁶ Anke Tönjes,^155,¹⁵⁷ Jorma Viikari,¹⁵⁸ Beverley Balkau,^159,¹⁶⁰ Yoav Ben-Shlomo,¹⁶¹ Richard N Bergman,⁸⁷ Heiner Boeing,⁸² George Davey Smith,⁸⁶ Shah Ebrahim,^162,¹⁶³ Philippe Froguel,^13,^14,¹⁶⁴ Torben Hansen,^84,¹⁶⁵ Christian Hengstenberg,^166,¹⁶⁷ Kristian Hveem,¹²² Bo Isomaa,^103,¹⁶⁸ Torben Jørgensen,^169,¹⁷⁰ Fredrik Karpe,^76,¹⁷¹ Kay-Tee Khaw,¹²⁷ Markku Laakso,¹²¹ Debbie A Lawlor,⁸⁶ Michel Marre,^172,¹⁷³ Thomas Meitinger,^174,¹⁷⁵ Andres Metspalu,^21,²³ Kristian Midthjell,¹²² Oluf Pedersen,^84,^176,¹⁷⁷ Veikko Salomaa,¹⁰⁹ Peter E H Schwarz,¹⁷⁸ Tiinamaija Tuomi,^103,^179,¹⁸⁰ Jaakko Tuomilehto,^117,^181,¹⁸² Timo T Valle,¹¹⁷ Nicholas J Wareham,¹⁹ Alice M Arnold,^73,¹⁸³ Jacques S Beckmann,^24,¹⁸⁴ Sven Bergmann,^24,²⁵ Eric Boerwinkle,¹⁸⁵ Dorret I Boomsma,⁶⁴ Mark J Caulfield,⁶⁸ Francis S Collins,⁸¹ Gudny Eiriksdottir,⁵³ Vilmundur Gudnason,^53,⁵⁴ Ulf Gyllensten,⁶⁵ Anders Hamsten,¹⁴³ Andrew T Hattersley,¹⁸ Albert Hofman,^9,⁴³ Frank B Hu,^5,^6,³² Thomas Illig,² Carlos Iribarren,^186,¹⁸⁷ Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin,^59,^69,^70,¹³⁶ W H Linda Kao,¹⁸⁸ Jaakko Kaprio,^77,^133,¹⁸⁹ Lenore J Launer,¹⁵ Patricia B Munroe,⁶⁸ Ben Oostra,¹⁹⁰ Brenda W Penninx,^142,^191,¹⁹² Peter P Pramstaller,^112,^193,¹⁹⁴ Bruce M Psaty,^195,¹⁹⁶ Thomas Quertermous,⁷¹ Aila Rissanen,¹³⁴ Igor Rudan,^97,¹²⁰ Alan R Shuldiner,^106,¹⁹⁷ Nicole Soranzo,^41,⁴⁸ Timothy D Spector,⁴⁸ Ann-Christine Syvanen,¹⁹⁸ Manuela Uda,⁷⁹ André Uitterlinden,^8,^9,⁴³ Henry Völzke,¹⁹⁹ Peter Vollenweider,²⁰⁰ James F Wilson,⁹⁷ Jacqueline C Witteman,^9,⁴³ Alan F Wright,⁶² Gonçalo R Abecasis,³ Michael Boehnke,³ Ingrid B Borecki,^40,²⁰¹ Panos Deloukas,⁴¹ Timothy M Frayling,¹⁸ Leif C Groop,⁹³ Talin Haritunians,²⁰² David J Hunter,^5,^6,³² Robert C Kaplan,²⁰³ Kari E North,^26,²⁰⁴ Jeffrey R O’connell,¹⁰⁶ Leena Peltonen,^41,^51,^77,^101,²⁰⁵ David Schlessinger,²⁰⁶ David P Strachan,²⁰⁷ Joel N Hirschhorn,^10,^20,²⁰⁸ Themistocles L Assimes,⁷¹ H-Erich Wichmann,^2,^209,²¹⁰ Unnur Thorsteinsdottir,^7,²¹¹ Cornelia M van Duijn,^9,⁴³ Kari Stefansson,^7,^211,²¹⁵ L Adrienne Cupples,^12,²¹⁵ Ruth J F Loos,^19,²¹⁵ Inês Barroso,^41,^212,²¹⁵ Mark I McCarthy,^4,^76,^171,²¹⁵ Caroline S Fox,^213,²¹⁵ Karen L Mohlke,^83,²¹⁵ and Cecilia M Lindgren^4,^76,²¹⁵

¹Regensburg University Medical Center, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Regensburg, Germany.

²Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.

³Department of Biostatistics, Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

⁴Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

⁵Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

⁶Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

⁷deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland.

⁸Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center (MC), Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

⁹Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI)-sponsored Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging (NCHA), Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

¹⁰Metabolism Initiative and Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

¹¹Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

¹²Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

¹³Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR8199-IBL-Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.

¹⁴University Lille Nord de France, Lille, France.

¹⁵Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, Biometry, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

¹⁶Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

¹⁷Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

¹⁸Genetics of Complex Traits, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.

¹⁹Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK.

²⁰Divisions of Genetics and Endocrinology and Program in Genomics, Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

²¹Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.

²²Estonian Biocenter, Tartu, Estonia.

²³Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.

²⁴Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

²⁵Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.

²⁶Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

²⁷Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath, Bath, UK.

²⁸MRC Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire, UK.

²⁹Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

³⁰Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

³¹Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Weight Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

³²Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

³³Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

³⁴Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.

³⁵National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.

³⁶Merck Research Laboratories, Merck & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

³⁷Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, California, USA.

³⁸Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, Washington, USA.

³⁹Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology Unit, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, UK.

⁴⁰Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

⁴¹Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.

⁴²On behalf of the MAGIC (Meta-Analyses of Glucose and Insulin-related traits Consortium) investigators.

⁴³Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

⁴⁴University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.

⁴⁵Department of Primary Industries, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

⁴⁶Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

⁴⁷Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

⁴⁸Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK.

⁴⁹Neurogenetics Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland, Australia.

⁵⁰Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

⁵¹The Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

⁵²Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

⁵³Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland.

⁵⁴University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.

⁵⁵Queensland Statistical Genetics Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland, Australia.

⁵⁶Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

⁵⁷Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

⁵⁸Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, Alabama, USA.

⁵⁹Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.

⁶⁰Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.

⁶¹Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.

⁶²MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute for Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

⁶³Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

⁶⁴Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit (VU) University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

⁶⁵Department of Genetics and Pathology, Rudbeck Laboratory, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.

⁶⁶Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.

⁶⁷Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, London, UK.

⁶⁸Clinical Pharmacology and Barts and The London Genome Centre, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London UK.

⁶⁹Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

⁷⁰Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

⁷¹Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.

⁷²Division of Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.

⁷³Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.

⁷⁴Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Medical School, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.

⁷⁵Gen-Info Ltd, Zagreb, Croatia.

⁷⁶Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

⁷⁷Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

⁷⁸National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Unit of Public Health Genomics, Helsinki, Finland.

⁷⁹Istituto di Neurogenetica e Neurofarmacologia del CNR, Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy.

⁸⁰Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

⁸¹National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

⁸²Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany.

⁸³Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

⁸⁴Hagedorn Research Institute, Gentofte, Denmark.

⁸⁵Regensburg University Medical Center, Clinic and Policlinic for Internal Medicine II, Regensburg, Germany.

⁸⁶MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, Oakfield House, Bristol, UK.

⁸⁷Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

⁸⁸Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

⁸⁹Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

⁹⁰Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.

⁹¹Department of Physiology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

⁹²Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

⁹³Lund University Diabetes Centre, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.

⁹⁴Zentrum für Zahn-, Mund- und Kieferheilkunde, Greifswald, Germany.

⁹⁵Department of Medicine III, University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

⁹⁶Division of Endocrinology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

⁹⁷Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

⁹⁸Department of Internal Medicine B, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.

⁹⁹MRC-Health Protection Agency (HPA) Centre for Environment and Health, London, UK.

¹⁰⁰Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁰¹National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁰²Helsinki University Central Hospital, Unit of General Practice, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁰³Folkhalsan Research Centre, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁰⁴Vasa Central Hospital, Vasa, Finland.

¹⁰⁵Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

¹⁰⁶Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

¹⁰⁷Department of Medicine III, Pathobiochemistry, University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

¹⁰⁸Department of Clinical Sciences/Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

¹⁰⁹National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Unit, Helsinki, Finland.

¹¹⁰Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Physiology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

¹¹¹Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland.

¹¹²Institute of Genetic Medicine, European Academy Bozen-Bolzano (EURAC), Bolzano-Bozen, Italy (affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany).

¹¹³PathWest Laboratory of Western Australia, Department of Molecular Genetics, J Block, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

¹¹⁴Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation Inc., Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

¹¹⁵National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Population Studies Unit, Turku, Finland.

¹¹⁶Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

¹¹⁷National Institute for Health and Welfare, Diabetes Prevention Unit, Helsinki, Finland.

¹¹⁸Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

¹¹⁹Institut für Pharmakologie, Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

¹²⁰Croatian Centre for Global Health, School of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia.

¹²¹Department of Medicine, University of Kuopio and Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.

¹²²Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway.

¹²³Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Oulu, Finland.

¹²⁴Institut inter-regional pour la sante (IRSA), La Riche, France.

¹²⁵Centre National de Genotypage, Evry, Paris, France.

¹²⁶Transplantation Laboratory, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

¹²⁷Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

¹²⁸Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) Laboratory, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.

¹²⁹Division of Health, Research Board, An Bord Taighde Sláinte, Dublin, Ireland.

¹³⁰Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

¹³¹Amgen, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

¹³²Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK.

¹³³Finnish Twin Cohort Study, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

¹³⁴Obesity Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

¹³⁵Department of Medicine, Levanger Hospital, The Nord-Trøndelag Health Trust, Levanger, Norway.

¹³⁶National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland.

¹³⁷Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.

¹³⁸Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK.

¹³⁹Leicester National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Unit in Cardiovascular Disease, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK.

¹⁴⁰South Karelia Central Hospital, Lappeenranta, Finland.

¹⁴¹Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Laboratory, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁴²Department of Psychiatry/Instituut voor Extramuraal Geneeskundig Onderzoek (EMGO) Institute, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

¹⁴³Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

¹⁴⁴Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.

¹⁴⁵Center of Medical Systems Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.

¹⁴⁶Institut für Klinische Chemie und Laboratoriumsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

¹⁴⁷Steno Diabetes Center, Gentofte, Denmark.

¹⁴⁸Department of Physiatrics, Lapland Central Hospital, Rovaniemi, Finland.

¹⁴⁹School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

¹⁵⁰School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

¹⁵¹Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.

¹⁵²Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.

¹⁵³Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

¹⁵⁴The Department of Clinical Physiology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.

¹⁵⁵Department of Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

¹⁵⁶Leipziger Interdisziplinärer Forschungskomplex zu molekularen Ursachen umwelt- und lebensstilassoziierter Erkrankungen (LIFE) Study Centre, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

¹⁵⁷Coordination Centre for Clinical Trials, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

¹⁵⁸Department of Medicine, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.

¹⁵⁹INSERM Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations (CESP) U1018, Villejuif, France.

¹⁶⁰University Paris Sud 11, Unité Mixte de Recherche en Santé (UMRS) 1018, Villejuif, France.

¹⁶¹Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.

¹⁶²The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.

¹⁶³South Asia Network for Chronic Disease, New Delhi, India.

¹⁶⁴Department of Genomics of Common Disease, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.

¹⁶⁵Faculty of Health Science, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.

¹⁶⁶Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.

¹⁶⁷Regensburg University Medical Center, Innere Medizin II, Regensburg, Germany.

¹⁶⁸Department of Social Services and Health Care, Jakobstad, Finland.

¹⁶⁹Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup University Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark.

¹⁷⁰Faculty of Health Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

¹⁷¹NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK.

¹⁷²Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Nutrition, Bichat-Claude Bernard University Hospital, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.

¹⁷³Cardiovascular Genetics Research Unit, Université Henri Poincaré-Nancy 1, Nancy, France.

¹⁷⁴Institute of Human Genetics, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München, Munich, Germany.

¹⁷⁵Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.

¹⁷⁶Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

¹⁷⁷Faculty of Health Science, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.

¹⁷⁸Department of Medicine III, Prevention and Care of Diabetes, University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

¹⁷⁹Department of Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁸⁰Research Program of Molecular Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁸¹Hjelt Institute, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁸²South Ostrobothnia Central Hospital, Seinajoki, Finland.

¹⁸³Collaborative Health Studies Coordinating Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.

¹⁸⁴Service of Medical Genetics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.

¹⁸⁵Human Genetics Center and Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

¹⁸⁶Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, California, USA.

¹⁸⁷Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.

¹⁸⁸Department of Epidemiology and Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

¹⁸⁹National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Unit for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Helsinki, Finland.

¹⁹⁰Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

¹⁹¹Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.

¹⁹²Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

¹⁹³Department of Neurology, General Central Hospital, Bolzano, Italy.

¹⁹⁴Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.

¹⁹⁵Departments of Epidemiology, Medicine and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.

¹⁹⁶Group Health Research Institute, Group Health, Seattle, Washington, USA.

¹⁹⁷Geriatrics Research and Education Clinical Center, Baltimore Veterans Administration Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

¹⁹⁸Uppsala University, Department of Medical Sciences, Molecular Medicine, Uppsala, Sweden.

¹⁹⁹Institut für Community Medicine, Greifswald, Germany.

²⁰⁰Department of Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.

²⁰¹Division of Biostatistics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

²⁰²Medical Genetics Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.

²⁰³Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.

²⁰⁴Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

²⁰⁵Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

²⁰⁶Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

²⁰⁷Division of Community Health Sciences, St George’s, University of London, London, UK.

²⁰⁸Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

²⁰⁹Klinikum Grosshadern, Munich, Germany.

²¹⁰Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Institute of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Munich, Germany.

²¹¹Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland.

²¹²University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Labs, Institute of Metabolic Science Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK.

²¹³Division of Intramural Research, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.

Correspondence should be addressed to C.M.L. (Email: celi/at/well.ox.ac.uk), K.L.M. (Email: mohlke/at/med.unc.edu), C.S.F. (Email: foxca/at/nhlbi.nih.gov), M.I.M. (Email: mark.mccarthy/at/drl.ox.ac.uk) or I.M.H. (Email: iris.heid/at/klinik.uni-regensburg.de).

²¹⁴These authors contributed equally to this work.

²¹⁵These authors jointly directed this work.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS Writing group: I.B., C.S.F., I.M.H. (lead), C.M.L. (lead), M.I.M., K.L. Mohlke, L.Q., V. Steinthorsdottir, G.T., M.C.Z.

Waist phenotype working group: T.L.A., N.B., I.B., L.A.C., C.M.D., C.S.F., T.B.H., I.M.H., A.U.J., C.M.L. (lead), R.J.F.L., R.M., M.I.M., K.L. Mohlke, L.Q., J.C.R., E.K.S., V. Steinthorsdottir, K. Stefansson, G.T., U.T., C.C.W., T.W., T.W.W., H.E.W., M.C.Z.

Data cleaning and analysis: S.I.B., I.M.H. (lead), E.I., A.U.J., H.L., C.M.L. (lead), R.J.F.L. (lead), J.L., R.M., L.Q., J.C.R., E.K.S., G.T., S.V., M.N.W., E.W., C.J.W., T.W.W., T.W.

Sex-specific analyses: S.I.B., T.E., I.M.H., A.U.J., T.O.K., Z.K., S.L., C.M.L., R.J.F.L., R.M., K.L. Monda, K.E.N., L.Q., J.C.R. (lead), V. Steinthorsdottir, G.T., T.W.W. (lead).

eQTL and expression analyses: S.I.B., A.L.D., C.C.H., J.N.H., F.K., L.M.K., C.M.L., L.L., R.J.F.L., J.L., M.F.M., J.L.M., C.M., G.N., E.E.S., E.K.S., V. Steinthorsdottir, G.T., K.T.Z.

Pathway and CNV analyses: C.M.L., S.A.M., M.I.M., J.N., V. Steinthorsdottir, G.T., B.F.V.

Secondary analyses: S.I.B., I.B.B., N.C., K.E., T.M.F., M.F.F., T.F., M.E.G., J.N.H., E.I., G.L., C.M.L., H.L., R.M., M. Mangino, M.I.M., K.L. Mohlke, D.R.N., J.R.O., S.P., J.R.B.P., J.C.R., A.V.S., E.K.S., P.M.V., M.N.W., C.J.W., R.J.W., E.W., A.R.W., J.Y.

Study-specific analyses: G.R.A., D.A., N.A., T.A., T.L.A., N.B., C.C., P.S.C., L.C., L.A.C., D.I.C., M.N.C., C.M.D., T.E., K.E., E.F., M.F.F., T.F., A.P.G., N.L.G., M.E.G., C. Hayward, N.L.H., I.M.H., J.J.H., A.U.J., Å.J., T. Johnson, J.O.J., J.R.K., M. Kaakinen, K. Kapur, S. Ketkar, J.W.K., P. Kraft, A.T.K., Z.K., J. Kettunen, C. Lamina, R.J.F.L., C. Lecoeur, H.L., M.F.L., C.M.L., J.L., R.W.L., R.M., M. Mangino, B.M., K.L. Monda, A.P.M., N.N., K.E.N., D.R.N., J.R.O., K.K.O., C.O., M.J.P., O. Polasek, I. Prokopenko, N.P., M.P., L.Q., J.C.R., N.W.R., S.R., F.R., N.R.R., C.S., L.J.S., K. Silander, E.K.S., K. Stark, S.S., A.V.S., N.S., U.S., V. Steinthorsdottir, D.P.S., I.S., M.L.T., T.M.T., N.J.T., A.T., G.T., A.U., S.V., V. Vitart, L.V., P.M.V., R.M.W., R.W., R.J.W., S.W., M.N.W., C.C.W., C.J.W., T.W.W., A.R.W., J.Y., J.H.Z., M.C.Z.

Study-specific genotyping: D.A., T.L.A., L.D.A., N.B., I.B., A.J.B., E.B., L.L.B., I.B.B., H.C., D.I.C., I.N.M.D., M. Dei, M.R.E., P.E., K.E., N.B.F., M.F., A.P.G., H.G., C.G., E.J.C.G., C.J.G., T. Hansen, A.L.H., N.H., C. Hayward, A.A.H., J.J.H., F.B.H., D.J.H., J.H., W.I., M.R.J., Å.J., J.O.J., J.W.K., P. Kovacs, A.T.K., H.K.K., J. Kettunen, P. Kraft, R.N.L., C.M.L., R.J.F.L., J.L., M.L.L., M.A.M., M. Mangino, W.L.M., M.I.M., J.B.J.M., M.J.N., M.N., D.R.N., K.K.O., C.O., O. Pedersen, L.P., M.J.P., G.P., A.N.P., N.P., L.Q., N.W.R., F.R., N.R.R., C.S., A.J.S., N.S., A.C.S., M.T., B.T., A.U., G.U., V. Vatin, P.M.V., H.W., P.Z.

Study-specific phenotyping: H.A., P.A., D.A., A.M.A., T.L.A., B.B., S.R.B., R.B., E.B., I.B.B., J.P.B., M. Dörr, C.M.D., P.E., M.F.F., C.S.F., T.M.F., M.F., S.G., J.G., L.C.G., T. Hansen, A.S.H., C. Hengstenberg, A.L.H., A.T.H., K.H.H., A. Hofman, F.B.H., D.J.H., B.I., T.I., T. Jørgensen, P.J., M.R.J., Å.J., A.J., A.L.J., J.O.J., F.K., L.K., J. Kuusisto, K. Kvaloy, R.K., S. Ketkar, J.W.K., I.K., S. Koskinen, V.K., M. Kähönen, P. Kovacs, O.L., R.N.L., B.L., J.L., G.M.L., R.J.F.L., T.L., M. Mangino, M.I.M., C.O., B.M.P., O. Pedersen, C.G.P.P., J.F.P., I. Pichler, K.P., O. Polasek, A.P., L.Q., M.R., I.R., O.R., V. Salomaa, J. Saramies, P.E.H.S., K. Silander, N.J.S., J.H.S., T.D.S., D.P.S., R.S., H.M.S., J. Sinisalo, T.T., A.T., M.U., P.V., C.B.V., L.V., J.V., D.R.W., G.B.W., S.H.W., G.W., J.C.W., A.F.W., L.Z., P.Z.

Study-specific management: G.R.A., A.M.A., B.B., Y.B.S., R.N.B., H.B., J.S.B., S.B., M.B., E.B., D.I.B., I.B.B., J.P.B., M.J.C., F.S.C., L.A.C., G.D., C.M.D., S.E., G.E., P.F., C.S.F., T.M.F., L.C.G., V.G., U.G., M.E.G., T. Hansen, C. Hengstenberg, K.H., A. Hamsten, T.B.H., A.T.H., A. Hofman, F.B.H., D.J.H., B.I., T.I., C.I., T. Jørgensen, M.R.J., A.L.J., F.K., K.T.K., W.H.L.K., R.K., J. Kaprio, M. Kähönen, M.L., D.A.L., L.J.L., C.M.L., R.J.F.L., T.L., M. Marre, T.M., A.M.E.T., K.M., M.I.M., K.L. Mohlke, P.B.M., K.E.N., M.S.N., D.R.N., B.O., C.O., O. Pedersen, L.P., B.W.P., P.P.P., B.M.P., L.J.P., T.Q., A.R., I.R., O.R., P.M.R., V. Salomaa, P.S., D.S., A.R.S., N.S., T.D.S., K. Stefansson, D.P.S., A.C.S., M.S., T.T., J.T., U.T., A.T., M.U., A.U., T.T.V., P.V., H.V., J.V., P.M.V., N.J.W., H.E.W., J.F.W., J.C.W., A.F.W.

Steering committee: G.R.A., T.L.A., I.B., S.I.B., M.B., I.B.B., P.D., C.M.D., C.S.F., T.M.F., L.C.G., T. Haritunians, J.N.H. (chair), D.J.H., E.I., R.K., R.J.F.L., M.I.M., K.L. Mohlke, K.E.N., J.R.O., L.P., D.S., D.P.S., U.T., H.E.W.

The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Nat Genet

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Abstract

Waist-hip ratio (WHR) is a measure of body fat distribution and a predictor of metabolic consequences independent of overall adiposity. WHR is heritable, but few genetic variants influencing this trait have been identified. We conducted a meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide association studies for WHR adjusted for body mass index (comprising up to 77,167 participants), following up 16 loci in an additional 29 studies (comprising up to 113,636 subjects). We identified 13 new loci in or near RSPO3, VEGFA, TBX15-WARS2, NFE2L3, GRB14, DNM3-PIGC, ITPR2-SSPN, LY86, HOXC13, ADAMTS9, ZNRF3-KREMEN1, NISCH-STAB1 and CPEB4 (P = 1.9 × 10⁻⁹ to P = 1.8 × 10⁻⁴⁰) and the known signal at LYPLAL1. Seven of these loci exhibited marked sexual dimorphism, all with a stronger effect on WHR in women than men (P for sex difference = 1.9 × 10⁻³ to P = 1.2 × 10⁻¹³). These findings provide evidence for multiple loci that modulate body fat distribution independent of overall adiposity and reveal strong gene-by-sex interactions.

Central obesity and body fat distribution, as measured by waist circumference and WHR, are associated with individual risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D)¹^,² and coronary heart disease³ and with mortality from all causes⁴. These effects are independent of overall adiposity as measured by body mass index (BMI). WHR is of particular interest as a measure of body fat distribution because it integrates the adverse metabolic risk associated with increasing waist circumference with the more protective role of gluteal fat deposition with respect to diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia⁵^,⁶.

There is abundant evidence that body fat distribution is influenced by genetic loci distinct from those regulating BMI and overall adiposity. First, even after accounting for BMI, individual variation in WHR is heritable⁷^,⁸, with heritability estimates ranging from 22%–61%⁷^-¹⁰. Second, the striking abnormalities of regional fat deposition associated with lipodystrophic syndromes demonstrate that genetic variation can have dramatic effects on the development and maintenance of specific fat depots¹¹^,¹². Third, in a previous genome-wide association analysis, we identified a locus near LYPLAL1 strongly associated with WHR independent of any effects on BMI¹³, providing proof of principle for the genetic control of body fat distribution distinct from that of overall adiposity.

Within the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium, we performed a large-scale meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) informative for WHR using adjustment for BMI to focus discovery toward genetic loci associated with body fat distribution rather than overall adiposity¹⁴^-¹⁶.

RESULTS

Genome-wide significant association of WHR with 14 SNPs

We conducted a two-stage study among individuals of European descent (Supplementary Table 1 and Online Methods). In the discovery stage, up to 2,850,269 imputed and genotyped SNPs were examined in 32 GWAS comprising up to 77,167 participants informative for anthropometric measures of body fat distribution. We performed a fixed-effects meta-analysis of WHR, employing study-specific linear regression adjusted for BMI and age, stratified by gender, and using an additive genetic model. After genomic control adjustment per each individual study and in the meta-analysis, these analyses revealed a substantial excess of low P values (Fig. 1a,b).

Figure 1

Genome-wide association analyses for WHR in discovery studies. (a) Manhattan plot shows results of the WHR association meta-analysis in discovery studies (with P values on the y axis and the SNP genomic position on the x axis). Colored genomic loci indicate (more ...)

We selected SNPs representing the top 16 independent (defined as being located >1 Mb apart) regions of association (discovery P < 1.4 × 10⁻⁶; Table 1) and evaluated them in 29 additional, independent studies (comprising up to 113,636 individuals) using a mixture of in silico data and de novo genotyping. In these follow-up studies, 14 of the 16 SNPs analyzed showed strong directionally consistent evidence for replication (P < 1.0 × 10⁻³) and ten SNPs reached genome-wide significance (P < 5.0 × 10⁻⁸). Joint analysis of the discovery and follow-up results revealed genome-wide significant associations for 14 signals (with P values between 1.9 × 10⁻⁹ and 1.8 × 10⁻⁴⁰; Table 1). Between-study heterogeneity was low (I² < 30%) for all but two signals (GRB14 and LYPLAL1; Supplementary Note), and all 14 associations remained genome-wide significant in a random-effects meta-analysis (Supplementary Table 2).

Table 1

Fourteen sNPs associated with WHr at genome-wide significant levels

One of these SNPs, rs4846567, is in linkage disequilibrium (LD) (r² = 0.64, D′ = 0.84; HapMap European CEU population) with the previously reported WHR-associated variant near LYPLAL1 (rs2605100)¹³. The remaining 13 loci were in or near genes not previously associated with WHR or other measures of adiposity: RSPO3, VEGFA, TBX15-WARS2, NFE2L3, GRB14, DNM3-PIGC, ITPR2-SSPN, LY86, HOXC13, ADAMTS9, ZNRF3-KREMEN1, NISCH-STAB1 and CPEB4 (Fig. 2). These 14 loci explain 1.03% of the variance in WHR (after adjustment for BMI, age and sex), with each locus contributing from 0.02% (ZNRF3-KREMEN1) to 0.14% (RSPO3) of the variance based on effect estimates in the follow-up stage.

Figure 2

Regional plots of 14 loci with genome-wide significant association. Shown is the SNP association with WHR in the meta-analysis of discovery studies for 14 loci (with −log₁₀ P values on the y axis and the SNP genomic position on the x axis). In (more ...)

Sexual dimorphism at several of the WHR loci

Given the known sexual dimorphism of WHR and the evidence from variance decomposition studies that this reflects sex-specific genetic effects¹⁷, we performed sex-specific meta-analyses for the 14 WHR-associated SNPs. These analyses included up to 108,979 women (42,735 in the discovery stage and 66,244 in the follow up) and 82,483 men (34,601 in the discovery and 47,882 in the follow up). In a joint analysis of discovery and follow-up data, 12 of the 14 SNPs reached genome-wide significance in women, but only three SNPs reached genome-wide significance in men (Table 2). At all but one locus (TBX15-WARS2), effect-size estimates were numerically greater in women. At seven of the loci (those near RSPO3, VEGFA, GRB14, LYPLAL1, HOXC13, ITPR2-SSPN and ADAMTS9), there were marked differences in sex-specific β coefficients (with P values ranging from 1.9 × 10⁻³ to 1.2 × 10⁻¹³). All loci displayed consistent patterns of sex-specific differences in both the discovery and follow-up studies (Table 2). These 14 loci explain 1.34% of the variance in WHR (after adjustment for BMI and age) in women but only 0.46% of the variance in WHR in men.

Table 2

Evidence of sex-differences in the WHr association at seven of the 14 associated loci

Association with other anthropometric measures

By focusing on WHR after adjustment for BMI, our goal was to detect effects on body fat distribution independent of those influencing overall adiposity. As expected, we found very little evidence that known BMI-associated variants were detected in our WHR analysis. Of the ten loci shown to be associated with BMI in previous GWAS¹⁴^,¹⁵^,¹⁸, only two showed nominally significant (P < 0.05) associations for BMI-adjusted WHR in the discovery analysis (FTO, rs8050136, P = 0.03, n = 77,074; TMEM18, rs6548238, P = 3.0 × 10⁻³, n = 77,016).

We also tested the 14 WHR-associated SNPs for their effect on BMI using data from up to 242,530 participants available from the GIANT consortium (including most of the studies available for WHR association). Of the 14 WHR loci, four (near TBX15-WARS2, CPEB4, LYPLAL1 and GRB14) also showed evidence of association with BMI (4.1 × 10⁻³ ≤ P ≤ 3.2 × 10⁻⁶), with the WHR-increasing allele associated with decreased BMI (Supplementary Table 3). After adding an interaction term of SNP with BMI into the model, we observed that BMI modified the WHR association at the LY86 locus (P for interaction = 9.5 × 10⁻⁵), with a larger WHR effect among obese individuals compared to non-obese individuals (Supplementary Note).

To determine whether the WHR-associated signals exert their effects primarily through an effect on waist or hip circumference, we performed meta-analyses for these specific phenotypes in the discovery and follow-up studies (Supplementary Tables 1 and 3). Overall, we observed stronger associations for hip circumference than for waist circumference. Effect-size estimates were numerically greater for hip circumference than for waist circumference at 11 of the 14 loci, and there were nominal associations (P < 0.05) with hip circumference for 12 of the WHR-associated loci but there were only four associations with waist circumference. In both sexes, the WHR-associated loci displaying nominal association with hip circumference always featured the WHR-increasing allele associated with reduced hip circumference. In contrast, we observed sexual dimorphism in the pattern of waist circumference associations. In women, the WHR-increasing allele at all 14 loci was associated with increased waist circumference, whereas this was only true for six of these loci in men (Fig. 3). At GRB14, for example, the WHR-increasing allele was associated with increased waist circumference in women (P = 3.6 × 10⁻⁴) but with decreased waist circumference in men (P = 6.8 × 10⁻³). These differences in the relationships between waist circumference, hip circumference and WHR underlie some of the sexual dimorphism in the patterns of WHR association.

Figure 3

Association of the 14 WHR loci with waist and hip circumference. β coefficients for waist circumference (WC, x axis) and hip circumference (HIP, y axis) in women and men derived from the joint discovery and follow-up analysis. P for WC and HIP (more ...)

Enrichment of association with metabolic traits

We evaluated the 14 WHR-associated loci for their relationships with related metabolic traits using GWAS data provided by trait-specific consortia¹⁹^-²¹ as well as our de novo genotyped follow-up studies. As expected given the sample overlap between this GWAS data and our WHR GWAS data as well as information on known trait correlations (Supplementary Table 4), we observed directionally consistent enrichment of associations (P < 0.05) between the 14 WHR-associated alleles and increased triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-derived measures of insulin resistance (binomial P from 3.2 × 10⁻⁴ to 1.8 × 10⁻⁸; Table 3 and Supplementary Table 5). For example, the WHR-increasing allele at GRB14 showed strong associations with increased triglycerides (P = 7.4 × 10⁻⁹), fasting insulin levels (P = 5.0 × 10⁻⁶) and insulin resistance (P = 1.9 × 10⁻⁶). Eleven of the 14 WHR-associated loci showed directionally consistent associations with T2D, with three of these loci (at ADAMTS9, NISCH-STAB1 and ITPR2-SSPN) reaching nominal significance (P < 0.05) (Table 3 and Supplementary Table 5). Because the association signals for correlated traits in this analysis were vulnerable to overestimation given the overlap in the GWAS samples examined, we repeated these analyses and restricted the samples included to those from our de novo genotyped follow-up studies. Although this also resulted in a lower sample size, similar patterns of enrichment were still observed (Supplementary Table 5).

Table 3

WHR signals show enrichment of association with other traits related to metabolic disorders

Pathway analysis and potential biological roles

To identify potential functional connections and pathway relationships between genes mapping at the WHR-associated loci, we focused on the 95 genes located in a 2-Mb interval centered around each of the 48 independent SNPs that attained P < 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ in the WHR discovery studies.

First, we performed a survey of the published literature using GRAIL²² to search for connectivity between the genes and specific keywords that describe these functional connections (Online Methods). Although there was no evidence after correcting for multiple testing that the connectivity between these genes was greater than chance, we identified eight genes with nominal significance (P < 0.05) for potential functional connectivity (PLXND, HOXC10, TBX15, RSPO3, HOXC4, HOXC6, KREMEN1 and HOXC11). The keywords associated with these connections included ‘vegf’, ‘homeobox’, ‘patterning’, ‘mesenchyme’, ‘embryonic’, ‘development’ and ‘angiogenesis’.

Additionally, we performed pathway analyses using the PANTHER database²³ based on the same set of 95 genes (Online Methods and Supplementary Note). This analysis generated some evidence for over-representation of ‘developmental processes’ (P = 5.8 × 10⁻⁸) and ‘mRNA transcription regulation’ (P = 2.7 × 10⁻⁶) but neither of these factors retained nominal significance after adjustment for bias (for example, due to non-random SNP coverage in relation to genes) and the number of biological processes tested (Supplementary Note and Supplementary Table 6).

Finally, we examined the described functional roles of some of the most compelling candidates based on either proximity to the signal or the other analyses described in this paper. These analyses uncovered possible genetic roles in adipocyte development (TBX15), pattern formation during embryonic development (HOXC13), angiogenesis (VEGFA, RSPO3 and STAB1), Wnt and β-catenin signaling (RSPO3 and KREMEN1), insulin signaling (ADAMTS9, GRB14 and NISCH), lipase activity (LYPLAL1), lipid biosynthesis (PIGC) and intracellular calcium signaling (ITPR2) (Supplementary Note).

Evaluation of copy number variants and non-synonymous changes

Both common and rare copy number variants (CNVs) have been reported to be associated with overall adiposity¹⁴^,¹⁵^,²⁴^,²⁵, but the impact of CNVs on fat distribution has not been evaluated previously. To examine the potential contribution of common CNVs to variation in WHR, we looked for evidence of association in our genome-wide association discovery meta-analysis using a set of 6,018 CNV-tagging SNPs which collectively capture >40% of common CNVs that are greater than 1 kb in length²⁶^,²⁷ (Online Methods and Supplementary Note).

One CNV-tagging SNP (rs1294421 in LY86) was observed among our 14 WHR-associated loci. This SNP is in strong LD (r² = 0.98) with a 2,832-bp duplication variant (CNVR2760.1)²⁷ located 12 kb from an expressed sequence tag (BC039678) and 87 kb from LY86 such that the duplication allele is associated with reduced WHR. The duplicated region consists entirely of noncoding sequence but includes part of a predicted enhancer sequence (E.5552.1)²⁸.

To identify other putatively causal variants in our associated regions, we searched for non-synonymous coding SNPs in strong LD (defined as r² > 0.7) with the most strongly associated SNPs at each locus using data from the HapMap (Build 21) and 1000 Genomes Project (April and August 2009 releases). In this search, one lead SNP (rs6784615, at the NISCH-STAB1 locus) was correlated with non-synonymous changes in two nearby genes, DNAH1 (p.Val441Leu, p.Arg1285Trp and p.Arg3809Cys) and GLYCTK (p.Leu170Val). Fine-mapping and functional studies will be required to determine whether the DNAH1 or GLYCTK SNPs or the LY86 CNV are causal for the WHR associations at these loci.

Effect of WHR associations on expression in relevant tissues

Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) data can implicate regional transcripts that mediate trait associations, and we therefore examined the 14 WHR-associated loci using eQTL data from human subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT)²⁹ (two separate sample sets, n = 610 and n = 603), omental fat³⁰ (n = 740), liver³⁰ (n = 518), blood²⁹ (n = 745) and lymphocytes³¹ (n = 830) (Online Methods and Supplementary Note).

At six of the loci, the WHR-associated SNP was either the strongest SNP associated with significant (P < 1.0 × 10⁻⁵) expression of a local (within 1 Mb) gene transcript or explained the majority of the association between the most significant eQTL SNP and the gene transcript in conditional analyses (adjusted P > 0.05; Table 4). For example, the WHR-associated SNP rs1011731 (near DNM3-PIGC) was strongly associated with expression of PIGC in lymphocytes (P = 5.9 × 10⁻¹⁰); furthermore, rs1011731 is in high LD (r² = 1.00, D′ = 1.00 from the HapMap CEU population) with the SNP with the strongest effect on PIGC expression (rs991790), and this cis eQTL association was abolished by conditioning on rs1011731. These analyses therefore indicate that these two signals are coincident and that PIGC is a strong candidate for mediating the WHR association at rs1011731. We found similar evidence for coincidence of the WHR signal with expression for rs984222 (TBX15 in omental fat), rs1055144 (expressed sequence tag AA553656 in SAT), rs10195252 (GRB14 in SAT), rs4823006 (ZNRF3 in SAT and omental fat) and rs6784615 (STAB1 in blood) (Table 4). Taken together, the overlap between trait association and gene expression at these loci suggests that the WHR associations may be driven through altered expression of PIGC, TBX15, AA553656, GRB1, ZNRF3 and STAB1.

Table 4

Expression quantitative trait locus analysis for 11 of the 14 WHR signals

RNA expression of gluteal and abdominal fat tissue

To determine whether genes within the WHR-associated loci showed evidence of differential transcription in distinct fat depots, we compared expression levels in gluteal or abdominal SAT in 49 individuals. We focused on the 15 genes with the strongest credentials for causal involvement (on the basis of proximity to the lead SNP and/or other biological or functional data; Table 1) for which expression data were available. Five of these genes (RSPO3, TBX15, ITPR2, WARS2 and STAB1) were differentially expressed between the two tissues (using an F test, corrected for false discovery rate across the 15 expressed genes, P < 0.05; Supplementary Table 7). This supports the hypothesis that, at some loci at least, the association with WHR reflects depot-specific differences in expression patterns.

DISCUSSION

Overall, our findings demonstrate that the genetic regulation of body fat distribution involves loci and processes that are largely distinct from those that influence BMI and risk of obesity. This finding is consistent with the evidence that WHR displays substantial heritability even after adjustment for BMI. The loci that emerged from this study display no overlap with those shown to be associated with BMI either in previous reports¹⁴^-¹⁶ or in the expanded meta-analysis recently completed by the GIANT consortium³².

Another point of distinction between our findings and those for BMI relates to the evidence for sexual dimorphism that we observed at several of the WHR-associated loci. Sex differences in the regulation of body fat distribution have long been acknowledged without a clear understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. These differences become apparent during puberty and are generally attributed to the influence of sex hormones³³. Consistent with our findings, variance decomposition studies have shown that the genetic contribution to the overall variance in WHR, waist and hip circumference is greater in women¹⁷. Although there is some evidence for loci with differential sex effects influencing lipids³⁴, uric acid levels³⁵ and risk of schizophrenia³⁶, we are unaware of prior reports indicating such strong enrichment of female-specific associations for any other phenotype, including BMI³².

The primary objective of genetic discovery efforts is to characterize the specific mechanisms involved in regulating the trait of interest. Despite the considerable challenges associated with moving from common variant association signals to defining causal alleles and pathways, we have identified strong candidates at several of the loci. For example, the cis eQTL data implicate GRB14 as a compelling candidate for the WHR association on chromosome 2, and we were able to show that the same GRB14 variants are also associated with triglyceride and insulin levels, consistent with previous association of this locus with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol³⁷. These inferences about the role of GRB14 are supported by evidence that Grb14-deficient mice exhibit improved glucose homeostasis despite lower circulating insulin levels, as well as enhanced insulin signaling in liver and skeletal muscle³⁸. The signal near ADAMTS9 overlaps a previously-reported T2D locus³⁹, and the lead SNP for WHR in our study is identical to the SNP displaying the strongest T2D association in a previous expanded T2D meta-analysis⁴⁰. Given evidence that ADAMTS9 T2D risk alleles are associated with insulin resistance in peripheral tissues⁴¹, these findings are consistent with a primary effect of ADAMTS9 variants on body fat distribution. At the chromosome 6 locus, VEGFA is the most apparent biological candidate given the presumed role of VEGFA as a mediator of adipogenesis⁴² and evidence that serum levels of VEGFA are correlated with obesity⁴³^,⁴⁴. Finally, at the TBX15-WARS2 locus, TBX15 emerges as the strongest candidate based on the cis eQTL data in omental fat, marked depot-specific differences in adipose tissue expression in mice and humans and associations between TBX15 expression in visceral fat and WHR⁴⁵^,⁴⁶.

Our efforts to use pathway- and literature-mining approaches to look for functional enrichment of the genes mapping to associated regions met with only limited success but did provide some support for over-representation of developmental processes. Developmental genes have been implicated in fat accumulation and distribution⁴⁵^,⁴⁶, and recent evidence supports a link between developmental genes, including HOXC13 (ref. ⁴⁷) and TBX15 (refs. ⁴⁵^,⁴⁸), and body fat distribution. Developmental genes may in part determine the adipocyte-specific expression patterns that have been observed in different fat depots⁴⁵. Taken together, our findings point to a set of genes influencing body fat distribution that have their principal effects in adipose tissue. This is in contrast to the predominantly central (hypothalamic) processes that are involved in the regulation of BMI and overall adiposity⁴⁹.

By providing new insights into the regulation of body fat distribution, the present study raises a number of issues for future investigation. From the genetic perspective, re-sequencing, dense-array genotyping and fine-mapping approaches will be required to characterize causal variants at the loci we have identified and to support further discoveries that may account for the substantial proportion of genetic variance unexplained by our findings. From the clinical perspective, it will be important to explore the relationship of these variants to more refined measures of body fat distribution derived from detailed imaging studies, to use the variants identified to characterize the causal relationships between body fat distribution and related metabolic and cardiovascular traits and to explore population differences in patterns of body fat distribution. Efforts to tackle overall obesity through therapeutic or lifestyle-based modulation of overall energy balance have proved extremely challenging to implement, and the manipulation of processes associated with more beneficial patterns of fat distribution offers an alternative perspective for future drug discovery.

METHODS

Methods and any associated references are available in the online version of the paper at http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics/.

Supplementary Material

Supplementary Table 11: 3,113 SNPs tagging the 856 CNVs in the HapMap 3 catalog across all HapMap3 populations

Click here to view.^{(218K, xls)}

Supplementary Tables 1-10, Supplementary Figure 1 and Supplementary Note.

Click here to view.^{(672K, pdf)}

Online Methods

Click here to view.^{(114K, pdf)}

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Funding for this study was provided by the Academy of Finland (grants 104781, 120315, 129269, 117797, 121584, 126925, 129418, 129568, 77299, 124243, 213506, 129680, 129494, 10404, 213506, 129680, 114382, 126775, 127437, 129255, 129306, 130326, 209072, 210595, 213225 and 216374); an ADA Mentor-Based Postdoctoral Fellowship grant; Affymetrix, Inc., for genotyping services (N02-HL-6-4278); ALF/LUA Gothenburg; Althingi (the Icelandic Parliament); Amgen; AstraZeneca AB; Augustinus Foundation; Becket Foundation; Biocentrum Helsinki; Biomedicum Helsinki Foundation; Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center (DK46200); British Diabetes Association (1192); British Diabetic Association Research; British Heart Foundation (97020, PG/02/128); Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation; Cambridge NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre; CamStrad; Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government; Contrat Plan Etat Région de France; Danish Centre for Health Technology Assessment; Danish Diabetes Association; Danish Ministry of Internal Affairs and Health; Danish Heart Foundation; Danish Pharmaceutical Association; Danish Research Council; DIAB Core (German Network of Diabetes); Diabetes UK; Donald W. Reynolds Foundation; Dresden University of Technology Funding Grant, Med Drive; EMGO+ institute; Emil and Vera Cornell Foundation; Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Estonian Government SF0180142s08; European Commission (2004310, 212111, 205419, 245536, DG XII, HEALTH-F4-2007-201413, FP7/2007-2013, QLG1-CT-2000-01643, QLG2-CT-2002-01254, LSHG-CT-2006-018947, LSHG-CT-2006-01947, LSHG-CT-2004-512066, LSHM-CT-2007-037273, EU/WLRT-2001-01254, LSHG-CT-2004-518153, SOC 95201408 05F02, Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship); Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (01ZZ9603, 01ZZ0103, 01ZZ0403, 03ZIK012, 01 EA 9401); Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania; Finnish Diabetes Research Foundation; Finnish Diabetes Research Society; Finnish Foundation for Pediatric Research; Finnish Foundation of Cardiovascular Research; Finnish Medical Society; Finska Läkaresällskapet; Finnish Ministry of Education; Folkhälsan Research Foundation; Fond Européen pour le Développement Régional; Fondation LeDucq; Foundation for Life and Health in Finland; GEN-AU ‘GOLD’ from Austria; German Bundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technology (# 01 AK 803 A-H, # 01 IG 07015 G); German National Genome Research Net NGFN2 and NGFNplus (01GS0823, FKZ 01GS0823); German Research Council (KFO-152); GlaxoSmithKline; Göteborg Medical Society; Gyllenberg Foundation; Health Care Centers in Vasa, Närpes and Korsholm; Healthway, Western Australia; Helmholtz Center Munich; Helsinki University Central Hospital; Hjartavernd (the Icelandic Heart Association); Ib Henriksen Foundation; IZKF (B27); Jalmari and Rauha Ahokas Foundation; Juho Vainio Foundation; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF); Karolinska Institute and the Stockholm County Council (560183); Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Lundbeck Foundation Centre of Applied Medical Genomics for Personalized Disease Prediction, Prevention and Care; Knut Krohn, Microarray Core Facility of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research (IZKF), University of Leipzig, Germany; Lundberg Foundation; MC Health; Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Germany; South Tyrol Ministry of Health; Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia (216-1080315-0302); Medical Research Council UK (G0000649, G0601261, G9521010D, G0000934, G0500539, G0600331, PrevMetSyn); Montreal Heart Institute Foundation; MRC Centre for Obesity-Related Metabolic Disease; Municipal Health Care Center and Hospital in Jakobstad; Municipality of Rotterdam; Närpes Health Care Foundation; National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the Great Wine Estates Auctions; Netherlands Centre for Medical Systems Biology (SPI 56-464-1419); Netherlands Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports; Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Netherlands Genomics Initiative; Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging (050-060-810); Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research Netherlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) Investments (175.010.2005.011, 911-03-012, 904-61-090, 904-61-193, 480-04-004, 400-05-717); National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program; US National Institutes of Health (CA047988, CA65725, CA87969, CA49449, CA67262, CA50385, DK075787, DK062370, DK58845, DK072193, K23-DK080145, K99HL094535, N01-HC85079 through N01-HC85086, N01-HG-65403, N01-AG-12100, N01-HC-25195, N01-HC35129, N01-HC15103, N01-HC55222, N01-HC75150, N01-HC45133, N01-HC55015, N01-HC55016, N01-HC-55018, N01-HC-55019, N01-HC-55020, N01-HC-55021, N01-HC-55022, NO1-AG-1-2109, HL71981, HG005581, HG002651, HL084729, HL043851, HHSN268200625226C, K23-DK080145, MH084698, P30-DK072488, R01-DK075787, R01 HL087652, R01-HL087641, R01-HL59367, R01-HL086694, R01-HL087647, R01-HL087679, R01-HL087700, R01-AG031890, R01-HL088119, R01-DK068336, R01-DK075681, R01-DK-073490, R01-DK075787, R01-MH63706, U01-HL72515, U01-GM074518, U01-HL084756, U01-HG004399, UO1-CA098233, UL1-RR025005, UL1-RR025005, U01-HG004402, U01-DK062418, U01 HL080295, T32-HG00040, 263-MA-410953, 1RL1-MH083268-01, intramural project 1Z01-HG000024); National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam; Novo Nordisk Foundation; Novo Nordisk Inc., Research Foundation of Copenhagen County; Ollqvist Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation; Pew Scholarship for the Biomedical Sciences; Perklén Foundation; Petrus and Augusta Hedlunds Foundation; Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly (014-93-015, RIDE, RIDE2); Sahlgrenska Center for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (CMR, A305:188); Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany; Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation; Sigrid Juselius Foundation; Social Insurance Institution of Finland; Social Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Germany; South Tyrolean Sparkasse Foundation; State of Bavaria, Germany; Support for Science Funding programme; Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF); Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation; Swedish Medical Research Council (8691, K2007-66X-20270-01-3, K2010-54X-09894-19-3); Swedish Society of Medicine; Swiss National Science Foundation (33CSCO-122661); the Royal Society; the Royal Swedish Academy of Science; Torsten and Ragnar Söderberg’s Foundation; Turku University Hospitals; UK Department of Health Policy Research Programme; University and Research of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano; University Hospital Medical funds to Tampere; University Hospital Oulu, Biocenter, University of Oulu, Finland (75617); Västra Götaland Foundation; Wellcome Trust (077016/Z/05/Z, 068545/Z/02, 072960, 076113, 083270, 085301, 079557, 081682, 075491, 076113/B/04/Z, 091746/Z/10/Z, 079895, WT086596/Z/08/Z, WT Research Career Development Fellowship; WT Career Development Award); Western Australian Genetic Epidemiology Resource and the Western Australian DNA Bank (both National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Enabling Facilities); Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation.

Footnotes

Note: Supplementary information is available on the Nature Genetics website.

URLs. LocusZoom, http://csg.sph.umich.edu/locuszoom/.

COMPETING FINANCIAL INTERESTS The authors declare competing financial interests: details accompany the full-text HTML version of the paper at http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics/.

Reprints and permissions information is available online at http://npg.nature.com/reprintsandpermissions/.

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