Possible Race and Gender Divergence in Association of Genetic Variations with Plasma von Willebrand Factor: A Study of ARIC and 1000 Genome Cohorts

Authors

Zhou Zhou
Yu
Ashley L. Buchanan, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Yuanyuan Fu
Marco Campos
Kenneth K. Wu
Lloyd E. Chambless
Aaron R. Folsom
Eric Boerwinkle
Jing-fei Dong

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2014

Department

Pharmacy Practice

Abstract

The synthesis, secretion and clearance of von Willebrand factor (VWF) are regulated by genetic variations in coding and promoter regions of the VWF gene. We have previously identified 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), primarily in introns that are associated with VWF antigen levels in subjects of European descent. In this study, we conducted race by gender analyses to compare the association of VWF SNPs with VWF antigen among 10,434 healthy Americans of European (EA) or African (AA) descent from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Among 75 SNPs analyzed, 13 and 10 SNPs were associated with VWF antigen levels in EA male and EA female subjects, respectively. However, only one SNP (RS1063857) was significantly associated with VWF antigen in AA females and none was in AA males. Haplotype analysis of the ARIC samples and studying racial diversities in the VWF gene from the 1000 genomes database suggest a greater degree of variations in the VWF gene in AA subjects as compared to EA subjects. Together, these data suggest potential race and gender divergence in regulating VWF expression by genetic variations.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Zhou Z, Yu F, Buchanan A, Fu Y, Campos M, et al. (2014) Possible Race and Gender Divergence in Association of Genetic Variations with Plasma von Willebrand Factor: A Study of ARIC and 1000 Genome Cohorts. PLoS ONE 9(1): e84810. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084810

Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084810