CPAG: software for leveraging pleiotropy in GWAS to reveal similarity between human traits links plasma fatty acids and intestinal inflammation

Meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have demonstrated that the same genetic variants can be associated with multiple diseases and other complex traits. We present software called CPAG (Cross-Phenotype Analysis of GWAS) to look for similarities between 700 traits, build trees with informative clusters, and highlight underlying pathways. Clusters are consistent with pre-defined groups and literature-based validation but also reveal novel connections. We report similarity between plasma palmitoleic acid and Crohn's disease and find that specific fatty acids exacerbate enterocolitis in zebrafish. CPAG will become increasingly powerful as more genetic variants are uncovered, leading to a deeper understanding of complex traits. CPAG is freely available at www.sourceforge.net/projects/CPAG/. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0722-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.