Genetic variation associated with circulating monocyte count in the eMERGE Network.

ABSTRACT: With white blood cell count emerging as an important risk factor for chronic inflammatory diseases, genetic associations of differential leukocyte types, specifically monocyte count, are providing novel candidate genes and pathways to further investigate. Circulating monocytes play a critical role in vascular diseases such as in the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. We performed a joint and ancestry-stratified genome-wide association analyses to identify variants specifically associated with monocyte count in 11 014 subjects in the electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network. In the joint and European ancestry samples, we identified novel associations in the chromosome 16 interferon regulatory factor 8 (IRF8) gene (P-value = 2.78×10(-16), β = -0.22). Other monocyte associations incl

SUBMITTER: Crosslin DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3633369 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature