Genome-wide association study

Genotype

Genetic association

Disease

Biology

Gene

Subarachnoid hemorrhage

Internal medicine

Single-nucleotide polymorphism

Pleiotropy

Aneurysm

Heritability

Genetics

Medicine

Genetic architecture

Surgery

Quantitative trait locus

Phenotype

Nature Genetics

Rupture of an intracranial aneurysm leads to subarachnoid hemorrhage, a severe type of stroke. To discover new risk loci and the genetic architecture of intracranial aneurysms, we performed a cross-ancestry, genome-wide association study in 10,754 cases and 306,882 controls of European and East Asian ancestry. We discovered 17 risk loci, 11 of which are new. We reveal a polygenic architecture and explain over half of the disease heritability. We show a high genetic correlation between ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms. We also find a suggestive role for endothelial cells by using gene mapping and heritability enrichment. Drug-target enrichment shows pleiotropy between intracranial aneurysms and antiepileptic and sex hormone drugs, providing insights into intracranial aneurysm pathophysiology. Finally, genetic risks for smoking and high blood pressure, the two main clinical risk factors, play important roles in intracranial aneurysm risk, and drive most of the genetic correlation between intracran...

Genome-wide association study of intracranial aneurysms identifies 17 risk loci and genetic overlap with clinical risk factors