Genetic determinants of major blood lipids in Pakistanis compared with Europeans.

Background-Evidence is sparse about the genetic determinants of major lipids in Pakistanis. Methods and Results-Variants (n = 45 000) across 2000 genes were assessed in 3200 Pakistanis and compared with 2450 Germans using the same gene array and similar lipid assays. We also did a meta-analysis of selected lipid-related variants in Europeans. Pakistani genetic architecture was distinct from that of several ethnic groups represented in international reference samples. Forty-one variants at 14 loci were significantly associated with levels of HDL-C, triglyceride, or LDL-C. The most significant lipid-related variants identified among Pakistanis corresponded to genes previously shown to be relevant to Europeans, such as CETP associated with HDL-C levels (rs711752; P < 10(-13)), APOA5/ZNF259 (rs651821; P < 10(-13)) and GCKR (rs1260326; P < 10(-13)) with triglyceride levels; and CELSR2 variants with LDL-C levels (rs646776; P < 10(-9)). For Pakistanis, these 41 variants explained 6.2%, 7.1%, and 0.9% of the variation in HDL-C, triglyceride, and LDL-C, respectively. Compared with Europeans, the allele frequency of rs662799 in APOA5 among Pakistanis was higher and its impact on triglyceride concentration was greater (P-value for difference < 10(-4)). Conclusions-Several lipid-related genetic variants are common to Pakistanis and Europeans, though they explain only a modest proportion of population variation in lipid concentration. Allelic frequencies and effect sizes of lipid-related variants can differ between Pakistanis and Europeans. (Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2010;3:348-357.)