Preliminary Study of Genome-Wide Association Identified Novel Susceptibility Genes for Hemorheological Indexes in a Chinese Population

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies for various hemorheological characteristics have not been reported. We aimed to identify genetic loci associated with hemorheological indexes in a cohort of healthy Chinese Han individuals. METHODS: Genotyping was performed using Applied Biosystems Axiom™ Precision Medicine Diversity Array in 838 individuals, and 6,423,076 single nucleotide polymorphisms were available for genotyping. The relations were examined in an additive genetic model using mixed linear regression and combined with identical by descent matrix. RESULTS: We identified 38 genetic loci (p < 5 × 10⁻⁶) related to hemorheological traits. In which, LOC102724502-OLIG2 rs28371438 was related to the levels of nd30 (p = 8.58 × 10⁻⁰⁷), nd300 (p = 1.89 × 10⁻⁰⁶), erythrocyte rigidity (p = 1.29 × 10⁻⁰⁶), assigned viscosity (p = 6.20 × 10⁻⁰⁸) and whole blood high cut relative (p = 7.30 × 10⁻⁰⁸). The association of STK32B rs4689231 for nd30 (p = 3.85 × 10⁻⁰⁶) and nd300 (p = 2.94 × 10⁻⁰⁶) and GTSCR1-LINC01541 rs11661911 for erythrocyte rigidity (p = 9.93 × 10⁻⁰⁹) and whole blood high cut relative (p = 2.09 × 10⁻⁰⁷) was found. USP25-MIR99AHG rs1297329 was associated with erythrocyte rigidity (p = 1.81 × 10⁻⁰⁶) and erythrocyte deformation (p = 1.14 × 10⁻⁰⁶). Moreover, the association of TMEM232-SLC25A46 rs3985087 and LINC00470-METTL4 rs9966987 for fibrinogen (p = 1.31 × 10⁻⁰⁶ and p = 4.29 × 10⁻⁰⁷) and plasma viscosity (p = 1.01 × 10⁻⁰⁶ and p = 4.59 × 10⁻⁰⁷) was found. CONCLUSION: These findings may represent biological candidates for hemorheological indexes and contribute to hemorheological study.