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Nasal polyps (NP) are lesions on the nasal and paranasal sinus mucosa and are a risk factor for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). We performed genome-wide association studies on NP and CRS in Iceland and the UK (using UK Biobank data) with 4,366 NP cases, 5,608 CRS cases, and >700,000 controls. We found 10 markers associated with NP and 2 with CRS. We also tested 210 markers reported to associate with eosinophil count, yielding 17 additional NP associations. Of the 27 NP signals, 7 associate with CRS and 13 with asthma. Most notably, a missense variant in ALOX15that causes a p.Thr560Met alteration in arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) confers large genome-wide significant protection against NP (P=8.0 × 10−27, odds ratio = 0.32; 95% confidence interval = 0.26, 0.39) and CRS (P=1.1 × 10−8, odds ratio = 0.64; 95% confidence interval = 0.55, 0.75). p.Thr560Met, carried by around 1 in 20 Europeans, was previously shown to cause near total loss of 15-LO enzymatic activity. Our findings identify 15-LO as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in NP and CRS.

Osteoarthritis has a highly negative impact on quality of life because of the associated pain and loss of joint function. Here we describe the largest meta-analysis so far of osteoarthritis of the hip and the knee in samples from Iceland and the UK Biobank (including 17,151 hip osteoarthritis patients, 23,877 knee osteoarthritis patients, and more than 562,000 controls). We found 23 independent associations at 22 loci in the additive meta-analyses, of which 16 of the loci were novel: 12 for hip and 4 for knee osteoarthritis. Two associations are between rare or low-frequency missense variants and hip osteoarthritis, affecting the genes SMO(rs143083812, frequency 0.11%, odds ratio (OR) = 2.8, P= 7.9 × 10−12, p.Arg173Cys) and IL11(rs4252548, frequency 2.08%, OR = 1.30, P= 2.1 × 10−11, p.Arg112His). A common missense variant in the COL11A1gene also associates with hip osteoarthritis (rs3753841, frequency 61%, P= 5.2 × 10–10, OR = 1.08, p.Pro1284Leu). In addition, using a recessive model, we confirm an association between hip osteoarthritis and a variant of CHADL1(rs117018441, P= 1.8 × 10−25, OR = 5.9). Furthermore, we observe a complex relationship between height and risk of osteoarthritis.

Preeclampsia, which affects approximately 5% of pregnancies, is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal death. The causes of preeclampsia remain unclear, but there is evidence for inherited susceptibility. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have not identified maternal sequence variants of genome-wide significance that replicate in independent data sets. We report the first GWAS of offspring from preeclamptic pregnancies and discovery of the first genome-wide significant susceptibility locus (rs4769613; P = 5.4 × 10−11) in 4,380 cases and 310,238 controls. This locus is near the FLT1 gene encoding Fms-like tyrosine kinase 1, providing biological support, as a placental isoform of this protein (sFlt-1) is implicated in the pathology of preeclampsia. The association was strongest in offspring from pregnancies in which preeclampsia developed during late gestation and offspring birth weights exceeded the tenth centile. An additional nearby variant, rs12050029, associated with preeclampsia independently of rs4769613. The newly discovered locus may enhance understanding of the pathophysiology of preeclampsia and its subtypes.