Association of Myopia and Genetic Variants of TGFB2-AS1 and TGFBR1 in the TGF-β Signaling Pathway: A Longitudinal Study in Chinese School-Aged Children

BACKGROUND: Myopia is a complex multifactorial condition which involves several overlapping signaling pathways mediated by distinct genes. This prospective cohort study evaluated the associations of two genetic variants in the TGF-β signaling pathway with the onset and progression of myopia and ocular biometric parameters in Chinese school-aged children. METHODS: A total of 556 second grade children were examined and followed up for 3.5 years. Non-cycloplegic refraction and ocular biometric parameters were measured annually. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess the effect of the TGFBR1 rs10760673 and TGFB2-AS1 rs7550232 variants on the occurrence and progression of myopia. A 10,000 permutations test was used to correct for multiple testing. Functional annotation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was performed using RegulomeDB, HaploReg, and rVarBase. RESULTS: A total of 448 children were included in the analysis. After adjustments for gender, age, near work time and outdoor time with 10,000 permutations, the results indicated that the C allele and the AC or CC genotypes of rs7550232 adjacent to TGFB2-AS1 were associated with a significantly increased risk of the onset of myopia in two genetic models (additive: P’ = 0.022; dominant: P’ = 0.025). Additionally, the A allele and the AA or AG genotypes of rs10760673 of TGFBR1 were associated with a significant myopic shift (additive: P’ = 0.008; dominant: P’ = 0.028; recessive: P’ = 0.027). Furthermore, rs10760673 was associated with an increase in axial length (AL) (P’ = 0.013, β = 0.03) and a change in the ratio of AL to the corneal radius of curvature (AL/CRC) (P’ = 0.031, β = 0.003). Analysis using RegulomeDB, HaploReg, and rVarBase indicated that rs7550232 is likely to affect transcription factor binding, any motif, DNase footprint, and DNase peak. CONCLUSION: The present study indicated that rs10760673 and rs7550232 may represent susceptibility loci for the progression and onset of myopia, respectively, in school-aged children. Associations of the variants of the TGFBR1 and TGFB2-AS1 genes with myopia may be mediated by the TGF-β signaling pathway; this hypothesis requires validation in functional studies. This trial was registered as ChiCTR1900020584 at www.Chictr.org.cn.