Genetic analyses of the electrocardiographic QT interval and its components identify additional loci and pathways

William J Young, Najim Lahrouchi, Aaron Isaacs, ThuyVy Duong, Luisa Foco, Farah Ahmed, Jennifer A Brody, Reem Salman, Raymond Noordam, Jan-Walter Benjamins, Jeffrey Haessler, Leo-Pekka Lyytikäinen, Linda Repetto, Maria Pina Concas, Marten E van den Berg, Stefan Weiss, Antoine R Baldassari, Traci M Bartz, James P Cook, Daniel S EvansRebecca Freudling, Oliver Hines, Jonas L Isaksen, Honghuang Lin, Hao Mei, Arden Moscati, Martina Müller-Nurasyid, Casia Nursyifa, Yong Qian, Anne Richmond, Carolina Roselli, Kathleen A Ryan, Eduardo Tarazona-Santos, Sébastien Thériault, Stefan van Duijvenboden, Helen R Warren, Jie Yao, Dania Raza, Stefanie Aeschbacher, Gustav Ahlberg, Alvaro Alonso, Laura Andreasen, Joshua C Bis, Eric Boerwinkle, Archie Campbell, Eulalia Catamo, Massimiliano Cocca, Michael J Cutler, Dawood Darbar, Alessandro De Grandi, Antonio De Luca, Jun Ding, Christina Ellervik, Patrick T Ellinor, Stephan B Felix, Philippe Froguel, Christian Fuchsberger, Martin Gögele, Claus Graff, Mariaelisa Graff, Xiuqing Guo, Torben Hansen, Susan R Heckbert, Paul L Huang, Heikki V Huikuri, Nina Hutri-Kähönen, M Arfan Ikram, Rebecca D Jackson, Juhani Junttila, Maryam Kavousi, Jan A Kors, Thiago P Leal, Rozenn N Lemaitre, Henry J Lin, Lars Lind, Allan Linneberg, Simin Liu, Peter W MacFarlane, Massimo Mangino, Thomas Meitinger, Massimo Mezzavilla, Pashupati P Mishra, Rebecca N Mitchell, Nina Mononen, May E Montasser, Alanna C Morrison, Matthias Nauck, Victor Nauffal, Pau Navarro, Kjell Nikus, Guillaume Pare, Kristen K Patton, Giulia Pelliccione, Alan Pittman, David J Porteous, Peter P Pramstaller, Michael H Preuss, Olli T Raitakari, Alexander P Reiner, Antonio Luiz P Ribeiro, Kenneth M Rice, Lorenz Risch, David Schlessinger, Ulrich Schotten, Claudia Schurmann, Xia Shen, M Benjamin Shoemaker, Gianfranco Sinagra, Moritz F Sinner, Elsayed Z Soliman, Monika Stoll, Konstantin Strauch, Kirill Tarasov, Kent D Taylor, Andrew Tinker, Stella Trompet, André Uitterlinden, Uwe Völker, Henry Völzke, Melanie Waldenberger, Lu-Chen Weng, Eric A Whitsel, James G Wilson, Christy L Avery, David Conen, Adolfo Correa, Francesco Cucca, Marcus Dörr, Sina A Gharib, Giorgia Girotto, Niels Grarup, Caroline Hayward, Yalda Jamshidi, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin, J Wouter Jukema, Stefan Kääb, Mika Kähönen, Jørgen K Kanters, Charles Kooperberg, Terho Lehtimäki, Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa, Yongmei Liu, Ruth J F Loos, Steven A Lubitz, Dennis O Mook-Kanamori, Andrew P Morris, Jeffrey R O'Connell, Morten Salling Olesen, Michele Orini, Sandosh Padmanabhan, Cristian Pattaro, Annette Peters, Bruce M Psaty, Jerome I Rotter, Bruno Stricker, Pim van der Harst, Cornelia M van Duijn, Niek Verweij, James F Wilson, Dan E Arking, Julia Ramirez, Pier D Lambiase, Nona Sotoodehnia, Borbala Mifsud, Christopher Newton-Cheh*, Patricia B Munroe*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The QT interval is an electrocardiographic measure representing the sum of ventricular depolarization and repolarization, estimated by QRS duration and JT interval, respectively. QT interval abnormalities are associated with potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmia. Using genome-wide multi-ancestry analyses (>250,000 individuals) we identify 177, 156 and 121 independent loci for QT, JT and QRS, respectively, including a male-specific X-chromosome locus. Using gene-based rare-variant methods, we identify associations with Mendelian disease genes. Enrichments are observed in established pathways for QT and JT, and previously unreported genes indicated in insulin-receptor signalling and cardiac energy metabolism. In contrast for QRS, connective tissue components and processes for cell growth and extracellular matrix interactions are significantly enriched. We demonstrate polygenic risk score associations with atrial fibrillation, conduction disease and sudden cardiac death. Prioritization of druggable genes highlight potential therapeutic targets for arrhythmia. Together, these results substantially advance our understanding of the genetic architecture of ventricular depolarization and repolarization.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5144
Number of pages18
JournalNature Communications
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2022

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