No association of 9p21 with arterial elasticity and retinal microvascular findings.
OBJECTIVE
How 9p21 variation affects risk of cardiovascular disease is unclear, so we assessed whether 9p21 variants are associated with arterial elasticity or retinal microvascular findings.


METHODS
In the prospective Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) we assessed 378 SNPs in the 9p21 locus. Within four ethnic groups, we used an additive genetic model to relate the 9p21 SNPs to five vascular phenotypes: small and large elasticity derived from radial diastolic pulse contour analysis; Young's elastic modulus from carotid artery ultrasound measurements; and the diameter of the central retinal arteries and veins.


RESULTS
In neither ethnic-specific nor pooled data was there any statistically significant association between any of the 9p21 SNPs and any of the five vascular phenotypes.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study does not support an association of 9p21 variation with arterial elasticity or retinal microvascular abnormalities.
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. Electronic address: folso001@umn.edu.
Aaron R
AR
Folsom
James S
JS
Pankow
Xiaohui
X
Li
Daniel A
DA
Duprez
David R
DR
Jacobs
Ronald
R
Klein
Barbara
B
Klein
Weihong
W
Tang
Tien Yin
TY
Wong
Mary Frances
MF
Cotch
Kent D
KD
Taylor
Stephen S
SS
Rich
Jennifer L
JL
Hall
Wendy S
WS
Post
Jerome I
JI
Rotter
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002899:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9; D004548:Elasticity; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012161:Retinal Artery / Q000473:pathology; D012169:Retinal Vein / Q000473:pathology; D012306:Risk; D014463:Ultrasonography; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
9p21 SNP; Arterial elasticity; Prospective study; Retinal microvascular abnormalities