Genome-wide Association Study of Platelet Count Identifies Ancestry-Specific Loci in Hispanic/Latino Americans

Platelets play an essential role in hemostasis and thrombosis. We performed a genome-wide association study of platelet count in 12,491 participants of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos by using a mixed-model method that accounts for admixture and family relationships. We discovered and replicated associations with five genes (ACTN1, ETV7, GABBR1-MOG, MEF2C, and ZBTB9-BAK1). Our strongest association was with Amerindian-specific variant rs117672662 (p value = 1.16 × 10−28) in ACTN1, a gene implicated in congenital macrothrombocytopenia.

Source: The American Journal of Human Genetics - January 21, 2016 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Ursula M. Schick, Deepti Jain, Chani J. Hodonsky, Jean V. Morrison, James P. Davis, Lisa Brown, Tamar Sofer, Matthew P. Conomos, Claudia Schurmann, Caitlin P. McHugh, Sarah C. Nelson, Swarooparani Vadlamudi, Adrienne Stilp, Anna Plantinga, Leslie B Tags: Article Source Type: research