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Association of Interleukin 6 Receptor Variant With Cardiovascular Disease Effects of Interleukin 6 Receptor Blocking Therapy: A Phenome-Wide Association Study.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Cai, T; Zhang, Y; Ho, Y-L; Link, N; Sun, J; Huang, J; Cai, TA; Damrauer, S; Ahuja, Y; Honerlaw, J; Costa, L; Schubert, P; Hong, C; Gagnon, D ...
Published in: JAMA Cardiol
September 1, 2018

IMPORTANCE: Electronic health record (EHR) biobanks containing clinical and genomic data on large numbers of individuals have great potential to inform drug discovery. Individuals with interleukin 6 receptor (IL6R) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) who are not receiving IL6R blocking therapy have biomarker profiles similar to those treated with IL6R blockers. This gene-drug pair provides an example to test whether associations of IL6R SNPs with a broad range of phenotypes can inform which diseases may benefit from treatment with IL6R blockade. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether screening for clinical associations with the IL6R SNP in a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) using EHR biobank data can identify drug effects from IL6R clinical trials. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Diagnosis codes and routine laboratory measurements were extracted from the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP); diagnosis codes were mapped to phenotype groups using published PheWAS methods. A PheWAS was performed by fitting logistic regression models for testing associations of the IL6R SNPs with 1342 phenotype groups and by fitting linear regression models for testing associations of the IL6R SNP with 26 routine laboratory measurements. Significance was reported using a false discovery rate of 0.05 or less. Findings were replicated in 2 independent cohorts using UK Biobank and Vanderbilt University Biobank data. The Million Veteran Program included 332 799 US veterans; the UK Biobank, 408 455 individuals from the general population of the United Kingdom; and the Vanderbilt University Biobank, 13 835 patients from a tertiary care center. EXPOSURES: IL6R SNPs (rs2228145; rs4129267). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Phenotypes defined by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. RESULTS: Of the 332 799 veterans included in the main cohort, 305 228 (91.7%) were men, and the mean (SD) age was 66.1 (13.6) years. The IL6R SNP was most strongly associated with a reduced risk of aortic aneurysm phenotypes (odds ratio, 0.87-0.90; 95% CI, 0.84-0.93) in the MVP. We observed known off-target effects of IL6R blockade from clinical trials (eg, higher hemoglobin level). The reduced risk for aortic aneurysms among those with the IL6R SNP in the MVP was replicated in the Vanderbilt University Biobank, and the reduced risk for coronary heart disease was replicated in the UK Biobank. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this proof-of-concept study, we demonstrated application of the PheWAS using large EHR biobanks to inform drug effects. The findings of an association of the IL6R SNP with reduced risk for aortic aneurysms correspond with the newest indication for IL6R blockade, giant cell arteritis, of which a major complication is aortic aneurysm.

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Published In

JAMA Cardiol

DOI

EISSN

2380-6591

Publication Date

September 1, 2018

Volume

3

Issue

9

Start / End Page

849 / 857

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Veterans
  • Receptors, Interleukin-6
  • Proof of Concept Study
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Phenotype
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Linear Models
  • Humans
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
 

Citation

APA
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Cai, T., Zhang, Y., Ho, Y.-L., Link, N., Sun, J., Huang, J., … VA Million Veteran Program, . (2018). Association of Interleukin 6 Receptor Variant With Cardiovascular Disease Effects of Interleukin 6 Receptor Blocking Therapy: A Phenome-Wide Association Study. JAMA Cardiol, 3(9), 849–857. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2018.2287
Cai, Tianxi, Yichi Zhang, Yuk-Lam Ho, Nicholas Link, Jiehuan Sun, Jie Huang, Tianrun A. Cai, et al. “Association of Interleukin 6 Receptor Variant With Cardiovascular Disease Effects of Interleukin 6 Receptor Blocking Therapy: A Phenome-Wide Association Study.JAMA Cardiol 3, no. 9 (September 1, 2018): 849–57. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2018.2287.
Cai, Tianxi, et al. “Association of Interleukin 6 Receptor Variant With Cardiovascular Disease Effects of Interleukin 6 Receptor Blocking Therapy: A Phenome-Wide Association Study.JAMA Cardiol, vol. 3, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pp. 849–57. Pubmed, doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2018.2287.
Cai T, Zhang Y, Ho Y-L, Link N, Sun J, Huang J, Cai TA, Damrauer S, Ahuja Y, Honerlaw J, Costa L, Schubert P, Hong C, Gagnon D, Sun YV, Gaziano JM, Wilson P, Cho K, Tsao P, O’Donnell CJ, Liao KP, VA Million Veteran Program. Association of Interleukin 6 Receptor Variant With Cardiovascular Disease Effects of Interleukin 6 Receptor Blocking Therapy: A Phenome-Wide Association Study. JAMA Cardiol. 2018 Sep 1;3(9):849–857.

Published In

JAMA Cardiol

DOI

EISSN

2380-6591

Publication Date

September 1, 2018

Volume

3

Issue

9

Start / End Page

849 / 857

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Veterans
  • Receptors, Interleukin-6
  • Proof of Concept Study
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Phenotype
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Linear Models
  • Humans
  • Genome-Wide Association Study