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@ARTICLE{Ahmad:270184,
author = {Ahmad, Shahzad and Imtiaz, Mohammed Aslam and Mishra,
Aniket and Wang, Ruiqi and Herrera-Rivero, Marisol and Bis,
Joshua C and Fornage, Myriam and Roshchupkin, Gennady and
Hofer, Edith and Logue, Mark and Longstreth, WT and Xia, Rui
and Bouteloup, Vincent and Mosley, Thomas and Launer, Lenore
and Khalil, Michael and Kuhle, Jens and Rissman, Robert A.
and Chene, Genevieve and Dufouil, Carole and Djoussé, Luc
and Lyons, Michael J. and Mukamal, Kenneth J. and Kremen,
William S. and Franz, Carol E. and Schmidt, Reinhold and
Debette, Stephanie and Breteler, Monique M. B. and Berger,
Klaus and Yang, Qiong and Seshadri, Sudha and Aziz, N. Ahmad
and Ghanbari, Mohsen and Ikram, M. Arfan},
title = {{G}enome-wide {A}ssociation {S}tudy {M}eta-analysis of
{N}eurofilament light ({N}f{L}) levels in blood reveals
novel loci related to neurodegeneration},
reportid = {DZNE-2024-00755},
year = {2022},
abstract = {Background: Neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels in
circulation have been established as a sensitive biomarker
of neuro-axonal damage across a range of neurodegenerative
disorders. Elucidation of the genetic architecture of blood
NfL levels and its genetic correlation with neurological
traits could therefore provide new insights into shared
molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative
disorders.Methods: To identify the genetic variations
underlying blood NfL levels, we conducted an
ancestry-specific meta-analyses of genome-wide association
studies (GWAS) based on 18,532 participants from 11 cohorts
of European and 1142 participants (3 cohorts) of
African-American ancestry. In the post-GWAS analyses, we
performed expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL)
analysis, LD-regression, and genetic risk score (GRS)
association analysis with neurological traits.Results: In
the European ancestry GWAS meta-analysis, we identified two
genome-wide significant (P < 5x10−8) loci at 16p12 (UMOD),
and 17q24 (SLC39A11). In the African-American ancestry GWAS
meta-analysis, we identified three novel loci at 1q43
(FMN2), 12q14, and 12q21. Genetic correlation based on the
European ancestry meta-analysis with neurological traits
showed a strong genetic correlation of NfL with
Alzheimer’s disease(AD) (rg = 0.32, P = 1.74x10−6),
total-tau (rg = 2.01, P = 1.03x10−6), amyloid-beta
(Aβ)-40 (rg = 0.80, P = 6.92x10−6), and Aβ-42 (rg =
1.03, P = 4.39x10−5). A higher genetic risk score based on
NfL-associated genetic variants was also related to
increased plasma levels of total-tau (P = 1.97x10−4),
Aβ-40 (P = 2.24x10−5), Aβ-42 (P = 2.92x10−4) in the
Rotterdam Study.Conclusion: This large-scale GWAS
meta-analysis revealed multiple novel genetic loci of NFL
levels in blood in participants from European and
African-American ancestry. Significant genetic correlation
of genes underlying NfL with AD, Aβ-42, and total-tau may
indicate a common underlying pathway of neurodegeneration.},
cin = {AG Aziz / AG Breteler},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)5000071 / I:(DE-2719)1012001},
pnm = {354 - Disease Prevention and Healthy Aging (POF4-354)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-354},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)25},
doi = {10.1101/2022.12.14.22283446},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/270184},
}