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Published on: August 11, 2021
Genome-wide association study reveals susceptibility loci for self-reported headache in a large community-based Asian
Yu-Chien Tsao1,2,3, Shuu-Jiun Wang3,4, Chia-Lin Hsu4
1Department of Internal Medicine, 156932Yonghe Cardinal Tien Hospital, Yonghe Cardinal Tien Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background:
The genetic substrate for headache in the general population has not been identified in Asians. We investigated susceptible genetic variants for self-reported headache in a large community-based Asian population.
Methods:
We conducted a genome-wide association study in participants recruited from a community-based cohort to identify the genetic variants associated with headache in Taiwanese. All participants received a structured questionnaire for self-reported headache. A total of 2084 patients with "self-reported headache" and 11,822 age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled. Gene enrichment analysis using the Genotype-Tissue Expression version 6 database was performed to explore the potential function of the identified variants.
Results:
We identified two novel loci, rs10493859 in TGFBR3 and rs13312779 in FGF23, that are functionally relevant to vascular function and migraine to be significantly associated with self-reported headache after adjusting age, sex and top 10 principal components (p = 8.53 × 10-11 and p = 1.07 × 10-8, respectively). Gene enrichment analysis for genes with GWAS suggestive significance (p < 10-6) demonstrated that the expression of these genes was significantly enriched in the artery (p = 8.18 × 10-4) and adipose tissue (p = 8.95 × 10-4).
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that vascular dysfunction might play important roles in the pathogenesis of self-reported headache in Asian populations.
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