Identification of genomic loci associated with resting heart rate and shared genetic predictors with all-cause mortality

Nature Genetics 48, 1557 (2016).
doi:10.1038/ng.3708

Authors: Ruben N Eppinga, Yanick Hagemeijer, Stephen Burgess, David A Hinds, Kari Stefansson, Daniel F Gudbjartsson, Dirk J van Veldhuisen, Patricia B Munroe, Niek Verweij & Pim van der Harst
Resting heart rate is a heritable trait correlated with life span. Little is known about the genetic contribution to resting heart rate and its relationship with mortality. We performed a genome-wide association discovery and replication analysis starting with 19.9 million genetic variants and studying up to 265,046 individuals to identify 64 loci associated with resting heart rate (P < 5 × 10−8); 46 of these were novel. We then used the genetic variants identified to study the association between resting heart rate and all-cause mortality. We observed that a genetically predicted resting heart rate increase of 5 beats per minute was associated with a 20% increase in mortality risk (hazard ratio 1.20, 95% confidence interval 1.11–1.28, P = 8.20 × 10−7) translating to a reduction in life expectancy of 2.9 years for males and 2.6 years for females. Our findings provide evidence for shared genetic predictors of resting heart rate and all-cause mortality.

Source: Nature Genetics - October 30, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Ruben N Eppinga Yanick Hagemeijer Stephen Burgess David A Hinds Kari Stefansson Daniel F Gudbjartsson Dirk J van Veldhuisen Patricia B Munroe Niek Verweij Pim van der Harst Tags: Letter Source Type: research