Genome-wide association and Mendelian randomization study of NT-proBNP in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Johansson Å, Eriksson N, Lindholm D, Varenhorst C, James S, Syvänen AC, Axelsson T, Siegbahn A, Barratt BJ, Becker RC, Himmelmann A, Katus HA, Steg PG, Storey RF, Wallentin L, PLATO Investigators

Hum. Mol. Genet. 25 (7) 1447-1456 [2016-04-01; online 2016-01-21]

N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a strong predictor of mortality in coronary artery disease and is widely employed as a prognostic biomarker. However, a causal relationship between NT-proBNP and clinical endpoints has not been established. We have performed a genome-wide association and Mendelian randomization study of NT-proBNP. We used a discovery set of 3740 patients from the PLATelet inhibition and patient Outcomes (PLATO) trial, which enrolled 18 624 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). A further set of 5492 patients, from the same trial, was used for replication. Genetic variants at two novel loci (SLC39A8 and POC1B/GALNT4) were associated with NT-proBNP levels and replicated together with the previously known NPPB locus. The most significant SNP (rs198389, pooled P = 1.07 × 10(-15)) in NPPB interrupts an E-box consensus motif in the gene promoter. The association in SLC39A8 is driven by a deleterious variant (rs13107325, pooled P = 5.99 × 10(-10)), whereas the most significant SNP in POC1B/GALNT4 (rs11105306, pooled P = 1.02 × 10(-16)) is intronic. The SLC39A8 SNP was associated with higher risk of cardiovascular (CV) death (HR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.08-1.79, P = 0.0095), but the other loci were not associated with clinical endpoints. We have identified two novel loci to be associated with NT-proBNP in patients with ACS. Only the SLC39A8 variant, but not the NPPB variant, was associated with a clinical endpoint. Due to pleotropic effects of SLC39A8, these results do not suggest that NT-proBNP levels have a direct effect on mortality in ACS patients. PLATO Clinical Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov; NCT00391872.

Affiliated researcher

PubMed 26908625

DOI 10.1093/hmg/ddw012

Crossref 10.1093/hmg/ddw012

pii: ddw012
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00391872