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Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a monogenic disease characterized by a lifelong exposure to high LDL-C levels that can lead to early onset coronary heart disease (CHD). The main causes of FH identified to date include loss-of-function mutations in LDLR or APOB, or gain-of-function mutations in PCSK9. Early diagnosis and genetic testing of FH suspects is critical for improved prognosis of affected individuals as lipid lowering treatments are effective in preventing CHD related morbidity and mortality. In the present manuscript, we developed a comprehensive next generation sequencing (NGS) panel which we applied on two different resources of FH in the Icelandic population: 62 subjects from 23 FH families with known or unknown culprit mutations, and a population-based sampling of 315 subjects selected for total cholesterol levels above the 95th percentile cut-point. The application of the NGS panel revealed significant diagnostic yields in identifying pathogenic LDLR mutations in both family and population-based genetic testing.

range from ancient-and-common polymorphisms with minimal effects to recent-and-rare mutations predicted to have larger effects on the phenotype. Applying NGS and IBD analysis using nuclear families, we were able to identify 5 candidate endometriosis regions that show excess genetic burden. A more complete picture of the genetics of endometriosis is likely to emerge as additional WGS data are analyzed. Supported by: Juneau Biosciences.