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Objective: To establish a well-defined cohort for genetic epidemiology studies of endometriosis and conduct a pilot study to confirm validity using existing data associated with endometriosis.Methods: Between January and May 2010, a nested cohort within a population-based biobank was established in Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA. The inclusion criteria were women who had laparoscopy or hysterectomy. Fifty-one pleiotropic genetic polymorphisms and other established risk factors, such as smoking status and body mass index, were compared between endometriosis cases and controls.Results: From the existing biobank, 796 cases and 501 controls were identified, and 259 women with endometriosis were enrolled specifically for the nested cohort within this biobank. A single nucleotide polymorphism in the MMP1 gene significantly differed between cases and controls only when stratified by smoking status. Minor allele frequency was higher in control women who smoked than in women with endometriosis who smoked (55.5% versus 45.5%, χ(2)=8.2, P=0.017); the inverse relationship was found in non-smoker control women.Conclusions: Women with endometriosis were successfully recruited to participate in a general biobank, and a novel gene-environment interaction was identified. The findings suggest that important potential genetic associations may be missed if gene-environment interactions with known epidemiologic risk factors are not considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background To describe the dietary intake of participants in the Personalized Medicine Research Project (PMRP), and to quantify differences in nutrient intake by smoking status and APOE4-a genetic marker that has been shown to modify the association between risk factors and outcomes. Methods The PMRP is a population-based DNA, plasma and serum biobank of more than 20,000 adults aged 18 years and older in central Wisconsin. A questionnaire at enrollment captures demographic information as well as self-reported smoking and alcohol intake. The protocol was amended to include the collection of dietary intake and physical activity via self-reported questionnaires: the National Cancer Institute 124-item Diet History Questionnaire and the Baecke Physical Activity Questionnaire. These questionnaires were mailed out to previously enrolled participants. APOE was genotyped in all subjects. Results The response rate to the mailed questionnaires was 68.2% for subjects who could still be contacted (alive with known address). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 98 years (mean 54.7) and 61% were female. Dietary intake is variable when comparing gender, age, smoking, and APOE4. Over 50% of females are dietary supplement users; females have higher supplement intake than males, but both have increasing supplement use as age increases. Food energy, total fat, cholesterol, protein, and alcohol intake decreases as both males and females age. Female smokers had higher macronutrient intake, whereas male nonsmokers had higher macronutrient intake. Nonsmokers in both genders use more supplements. In females, nonsmokers and smokers with APOE4 had higher supplement use. In males, nonsmokers with APOE4 had higher supplement use between ages 18-39 only, and lower supplement use at ages above 39. Male smokers with APOE4 had lower supplement use. Conclusion Dietary intake in PMRP subjects is relatively consistent with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Findings suggest a possible correlation between the use of supplements and APOE4. The PMRP dietary data can benefit studies of gene-environment interactions and the development of common diseases.

Objective: We describe a stratified sampling design that combines electronic health records (EHRs) and United States Census (USC) data to construct the sampling frame and an algorithm to enrich the sample with individuals belonging to rarer strata., Materials and Methods: This design was developed for a multi-site survey that sought to examine patient concerns about and barriers to participating in research studies, especially among under-studied populations (eg, minorities, low educational attainment). We defined sampling strata by cross-tabulating several socio-demographic variables obtained from EHR and augmented with census-block-level USC data. We oversampled rarer and historically underrepresented subpopulations., Results: The sampling strategy, which included USC-supplemented EHR data, led to a far more diverse sample than would have been expected under random sampling (eg, 3-, 8-, 7-, and 12-fold increase in African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and those with less than a high school degree, respectively). We observed that our EHR data tended to misclassify minority races more often than majority races, and that non-majority races, Latino ethnicity, younger adult age, lower education, and urban/suburban living were each associated with lower response rates to the mailed surveys., Discussion: We observed substantial enrichment from rarer subpopulations. The magnitude of the enrichment depends on the accuracy of the variables that define the sampling strata and the overall response rate., Conclusion: EHR and USC data may be used to define sampling strata that in turn may be used to enrich the final study sample. This design may be of particular interest for studies of rarer and understudied populations.

Background: Proteomic approaches allow measurement of thousands of proteins in a single specimen, which can accelerate biomarker discovery. However, applying these technologies to massive biobanks is not currently feasible because of the practical barriers and costs of implementing such assays at scale. To overcome these challenges, we used a "virtual proteomic" approach, linking genetically predicted protein levels to clinical diagnoses in >40 000 individuals., Methods: We used genome-wide association data from the Framingham Heart Study (n=759) to construct genetic predictors for 1129 plasma protein levels. We validated the genetic predictors for 268 proteins and used them to compute predicted protein levels in 41 288 genotyped individuals in the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) cohort. We tested associations for each predicted protein with 1128 clinical phenotypes. Lead associations were validated with directly measured protein levels and either low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or subclinical atherosclerosis in the MDCS (Malmö Diet and Cancer Study; n=651)., Results: In the virtual proteomic analysis in eMERGE, 55 proteins were associated with 89 distinct diagnoses at a false discovery rate q<0.1. Among these, 13 associations involved lipid (n=7) or atherosclerosis (n=6) phenotypes. We tested each association for validation in MDCS using directly measured protein levels. At Bonferroni-adjusted significance thresholds, levels of apolipoprotein E isoforms were associated with hyperlipidemia, and circulating C-type lectin domain family 1 member B and platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β predicted subclinical atherosclerosis. Odds ratios for carotid atherosclerosis were 1.31 (95% CI, 1.08-1.58; P=0.006) per 1-SD increment in C-type lectin domain family 1 member B and 0.79 (0.66-0.94; P=0.008) per 1-SD increment in platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β., Conclusions: We demonstrate a biomarker discovery paradigm to identify candidate biomarkers of cardiovascular and other diseases.

Genome-wide, imputed, sequence, and structural data are now available for exceedingly large sample sizes. The needs for data management, handling population structure and related samples, and performing associations have largely been met. However, the infrastructure to support analyses involving complexity beyond genome-wide association studies is not standardized or centralized. We provide the PLatform for the Analysis, Translation, and Organization of large-scale data (PLATO), a software tool equipped to handle multi-omic data for hundreds of thousands of samples to explore complexity using genetic interactions, environment-wide association studies and gene-environment interactions, phenome-wide association studies, as well as copy number and rare variant analyses. Using the data from the Marshfield Personalized Medicine Research Project, a site in the electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network, we apply each feature of PLATO to type 2 diabetes and demonstrate how PLATO can be used to uncover the complex etiology of common traits.

Individuals participating in biobanks and other large research projects are increasingly asked to provide broad consent for open-ended research use and widespread sharing of their biosamples and data. We assessed willingness to participate in a biobank using different consent and data sharing models, hypothesizing that willingness would be higher under more restrictive scenarios. Perceived benefits, concerns, and information needs were also assessed. In this experimental survey, individuals from 11 US healthcare systems in the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network were randomly allocated to one of three hypothetical scenarios: tiered consent and controlled data sharing; broad consent and controlled data sharing; or broad consent and open data sharing. Of 82,328 eligible individuals, exactly 13,000 (15.8%) completed the survey. Overall, 66% (95% CI: 63%-69%) of population-weighted respondents stated they would be willing to participate in a biobank; willingness and attitudes did not differ between respondents in the three scenarios. Willingness to participate was associated with self-identified white race, higher educational attainment, lower religiosity, perceiving more research benefits, fewer concerns, and fewer information needs. Most (86%, CI: 84%-87%) participants would want to know what would happen if a researcher misused their health information; fewer (51%, CI: 47%-55%) would worry about their privacy. The concern that the use of broad consent and open data sharing could adversely affect participant recruitment is not supported by these findings. Addressing potential participants' concerns and information needs and building trust and relationships with communities may increase acceptance of broad consent and wide data sharing in biobank research., (Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The CYP1B1 gene encodes an enzyme that is a member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily. Mutations in CYP1B1 have been mainly reported in recessive pediatric ocular phenotypes, such as primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) and congenital glaucoma with anterior segment dysgenesis (CG with ASD), with some likely pathogenic variants also identified in families affected with adult-onset primary open angle glaucoma (POAG)., Methods: We examined CYP1B1 in 158 pediatric patients affected with PCG (eight), CG with ASD (22), CG with other developmental ocular disorders (11), juvenile glaucoma with or without additional ocular anomalies (26), and ASD or other developmental ocular conditions without glaucoma (91); in addition, a large cohort of adult patients with POAG (193) and POAG-negative controls (288) was examined., Results: Recessive pathogenic variants in CYP1B1 were identified in two PCG pedigrees, three cases with CG and ASD, and two families with CG and other ocular defects, such as sclerocornea in one patient and microphthalmia in another individual; neither sclerocornea nor microphthalmia has been previously associated with CYP1B1 . Most of the identified causative mutations are new occurrences of previously reported pathogenic alleles with two novel variants identified: a c.1325delC, p.(Pro442Glnfs*15) frameshift allele in a family with PCG and a c.157G>A, p.(Gly53Ser) variant identified in a proband with CG, Peters anomaly, and microphthalmia. Analysis of the family history in the CYP1B1 -positive families revealed POAG in confirmed or presumed heterozygous relatives in one family with PCG and two families with ASD/CG; POAG was associated with the c.1064&#95;1076del, p.(Arg355Hisfs*69) allele in two of these pedigrees. Screening of an unrelated POAG cohort identified the same c.1064&#95;1076del heterozygous allele in one individual with sporadic POAG but not in age- and ethnicity-matched POAG-negative individuals. Overall, there was no significant enrichment for mutant alleles in CYP1B1 within the POAG cases compared to the controls., Conclusions: In summary, these data expand the mutational and phenotypic spectra of CYP1B1 to include two novel alleles and additional developmental ocular phenotypes. The contribution of CYP1B1 to POAG is less clear, but loss-of-function variants in CYP1B1 , especially c.1064&#95;1076del, p.(Arg355Hisfs*69), may be associated with an increased risk for POAG.

OBJECT Symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) has a high risk of recurrent stroke. Genetic polymorphisms in CYP2C19 and CES1 are associated with adverse outcomes in cardiovascular patients, but have not been studied in ICAD. The authors studied CYP2C19 and CES1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in symptomatic ICAD patients. METHODS Genotype testing for CYP2C19*2, (*)3, (*)8, (*)17 and CES1 G143E was performed on 188 adult symptomatic ICAD patients from 3 medical centers who were medically managed with clopidogrel and aspirin. Testing was performed prospectively at 1 center, and retrospectively from a DNA sample biorepository at 2 centers. Multiple logistic regression and Cox regression analysis were performed to assess the association of these SNPs with the primary endpoint, which was a composite of transient ischemic attack (TIA), stroke, myocardial infarction, or death within 12 months. RESULTS The primary endpoint occurred in 14.9% of the 188 cases. In multiple logistic regression analysis, the presence of the CYP2C19 loss of function (LOF) alleles *2, *3, and *8 in the medically managed patients was associated with lower odds of primary endpoint compared with wild-type homozygotes (odds ratio [OR] 0.13, 95% CI 0.03-0.62, p = 0.0101). Cox regression analysis demonstrated the CYP2C19 LOF carriers had a lower risk for the primary endpoint, with hazard ratio (HR) of 0.27 (95% CI 0.08-0.95), p = 0.041. A sensitivity analysis of a secondary composite endpoint of TIA, stroke, or death demonstrated a significant trend in multiple logistic regression analysis of CYP2C19 variants, with lower odds of secondary endpoint in patients carrying at least 1 LOF allele (*2, *3, *8) than in wild-type homozygotes (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.06-1.16, p = 0.078). Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the carriers of CYP2C19 LOF alleles had a lower risk forthe secondary composite endpoint (HR 0.22, 95% CI 0.05-1.04, p = 0.056). CONCLUSIONS This is the first study examining genetic variants and their effects in symptomatic ICAD. Variant alleles of CYP2C19 (*2, *3, *8) were associated with lower odds of the primary and secondary composite endpoints. However, the direction of the association was opposite of what is expected based on this SNP. This may reflect an incomplete understanding of this genetic variation and its effect in symptomatic ICAD and warrants further investigations.

Advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, with limited therapeutic options. Here we report on a study of >12 million variants, including 163,714 directly genotyped, mostly rare, protein-altering variants. Analyzing 16,144 patients and 17,832 controls, we identify 52 independently associated common and rare variants (P < 5 × 10(-8)) distributed across 34 loci. Although wet and dry AMD subtypes exhibit predominantly shared genetics, we identify the first genetic association signal specific to wet AMD, near MMP9 (difference P value = 4.1 × 10(-10)). Very rare coding variants (frequency <0.1%) in CFH, CFI and TIMP3 suggest causal roles for these genes, as does a splice variant in SLC16A8. Our results support the hypothesis that rare coding variants can pinpoint causal genes within known genetic loci and illustrate that applying the approach systematically to detect new loci requires extremely large sample sizes.

Importance: Large-scale DNA sequencing identifies incidental rare variants in established Mendelian disease genes, but the frequency of related clinical phenotypes in unselected patient populations is not well established. Phenotype data from electronic medical records (EMRs) may provide a resource to assess the clinical relevance of rare variants., Objective: To determine the clinical phenotypes from EMRs for individuals with variants designated as pathogenic by expert review in arrhythmia susceptibility genes., Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective cohort study included 2022 individuals recruited for nonantiarrhythmic drug exposure phenotypes from October 5, 2012, to September 30, 2013, for the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network Pharmacogenomics project from 7 US academic medical centers. Variants in SCN5A and KCNH2, disease genes for long QT and Brugada syndromes, were assessed for potential pathogenicity by 3 laboratories with ion channel expertise and by comparison with the ClinVar database. Relevant phenotypes were determined from EMRs, with data available from 2002 (or earlier for some sites) through September 10, 2014., Exposures: One or more variants designated as pathogenic in SCN5A or KCNH2., Main Outcomes and Measures: Arrhythmia or electrocardiographic (ECG) phenotypes defined by International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes, ECG data, and manual EMR review., Results: Among 2022 study participants (median age, 61 years [interquartile range, 56-65 years]; 1118 [55%] female; 1491 [74%] white), a total of 122 rare (minor allele frequency <0.5%) nonsynonymous and splice-site variants in 2 arrhythmia susceptibility genes were identified in 223 individuals (11% of the study cohort). Forty-two variants in 63 participants were designated potentially pathogenic by at least 1 laboratory or ClinVar, with low concordance across laboratories (Cohen κ = 0.26). An ICD-9 code for arrhythmia was found in 11 of 63 (17%) variant carriers vs 264 of 1959 (13%) of those without variants (difference, +4%; 95% CI, -5% to +13%; P = .35). In the 1270 (63%) with ECGs, corrected QT intervals were not different in variant carriers vs those without (median, 429 vs 439 milliseconds; difference, -10 milliseconds; 95% CI, -16 to +3 milliseconds; P = .17). After manual review, 22 of 63 participants (35%) with designated variants had any ECG or arrhythmia phenotype, and only 2 had corrected QT interval longer than 500 milliseconds., Conclusions and Relevance: Among laboratories experienced in genetic testing for cardiac arrhythmia disorders, there was low concordance in designating SCN5A and KCNH2 variants as pathogenic. In an unselected population, the putatively pathogenic genetic variants were not associated with an abnormal phenotype. These findings raise questions about the implications of notifying patients of incidental genetic findings.

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly used for clinical and translational research through the creation of phenotype algorithms. Currently, phenotype algorithms are most commonly represented as noncomputable descriptive documents and knowledge artifacts that detail the protocols for querying diagnoses, symptoms, procedures, medications, and/or text-driven medical concepts, and are primarily meant for human comprehension. We present desiderata for developing a computable phenotype representation model (PheRM)., Methods: A team of clinicians and informaticians reviewed common features for multisite phenotype algorithms published in PheKB.org and existing phenotype representation platforms. We also evaluated well-known diagnostic criteria and clinical decision-making guidelines to encompass a broader category of algorithms., Results: We propose 10 desired characteristics for a flexible, computable PheRM: (1) structure clinical data into queryable forms; (2) recommend use of a common data model, but also support customization for the variability and availability of EHR data among sites; (3) support both human-readable and computable representations of phenotype algorithms; (4) implement set operations and relational algebra for modeling phenotype algorithms; (5) represent phenotype criteria with structured rules; (6) support defining temporal relations between events; (7) use standardized terminologies and ontologies, and facilitate reuse of value sets; (8) define representations for text searching and natural language processing; (9) provide interfaces for external software algorithms; and (10) maintain backward compatibility., Conclusion: A computable PheRM is needed for true phenotype portability and reliability across different EHR products and healthcare systems. These desiderata are a guide to inform the establishment and evolution of EHR phenotype algorithm authoring platforms and languages., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.)

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a common autosomal-recessive disorder associated with pathogenic HFE variants, most commonly those resulting in p.Cys282Tyr and p.His63Asp. Recommendations on returning incidental findings of HFE variants in individuals undergoing genome-scale sequencing should be informed by penetrance estimates of HH in unselected samples. We used the eMERGE Network, a multicenter cohort with genotype data linked to electronic medical records, to estimate the diagnostic rate and clinical penetrance of HH in 98 individuals homozygous for the variant coding for HFE p.Cys282Tyr and 397 compound heterozygotes with variants resulting in p.[His63Asp];[Cys282Tyr]. The diagnostic rate of HH in males was 24.4% for p.Cys282Tyr homozygotes and 3.5% for compound heterozygotes (p < 0.001); in females, it was 14.0% for p.Cys282Tyr homozygotes and 2.3% for compound heterozygotes (p < 0.001). Only males showed differences across genotypes in transferrin saturation levels (100% of homozygotes versus 37.5% of compound heterozygotes with transferrin saturation > 50%; p = 0.003), serum ferritin levels (77.8% versus 33.3% with serum ferritin > 300 ng/ml; p = 0.006), and diabetes (44.7% versus 28.0%; p = 0.03). No differences were found in the prevalence of heart disease, arthritis, or liver disease, except for the rate of liver biopsy (10.9% versus 1.8% [p = 0.013] in males; 9.1% versus 2% [p = 0.035] in females). Given the higher rate of HH diagnosis than in prior studies, the high penetrance of iron overload, and the frequency of at-risk genotypes, in addition to other suggested actionable adult-onset genetic conditions, opportunistic screening should be considered for p.[Cys282Tyr];[Cys282Tyr] individuals with existing genomic data., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Liver enzyme levels and total serum bilirubin are under genetic control and in recent years genome-wide population-based association studies have identified different susceptibility loci for these traits. We conducted a genome-wide association study in European ancestry participants from the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network dataset of patient medical records with available genotyping data in order to identify genetic contributors to variability in serum bilirubin levels and other liver function tests and to compare the effects between adult and pediatric populations., Methods: The process of whole genome imputation of eMERGE samples with standard quality control measures have been described previously. After removing missing data and outliers based on principal components (PC) analyses, 3294 samples from European ancestry were used for the GWAS study. The association between each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and total serum bilirubin and other liver function tests was tested using linear regression, adjusting for age, gender, site, platform and ancestry principal components (PC)., Results: Consistent with previous results, a strong association signal has been detected for UGT1A gene cluster (best SNP rs887829, beta = 0.15, p = 1.30x10-118) for total serum bilirubin level. Indeed, in this region more than 176 SNPs (or indels) had p<10-8 spanning 150Kb on the long arm of chromosome 2q37.1. In addition, we found a similar level of magnitude in a pediatric group (p = 8.26x10-47, beta = 0.17). Further imputation using sequencing data as a reference panel revealed association of other markers including known TA7 repeat indels (rs8175347) (p = 9.78x10-117) and rs111741722 (p = 5.41x10-119) which were in proxy (r2 = 0.99) with rs887829. Among rare variants, two Asian subjects homozygous for coding SNP rs4148323 (G71R) were identified. Additional known effects for total serum bilirubin were also confirmed including organic anion transporters SLCO1B1-SLCO1B3, TDRP and ZMYND8 at FDR<0.05 with no gene-gene interaction effects. Phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) suggest a protective effect of TA7 repeat against cerebrovascular disease in an adult cohort (OR = 0.75, p = 0.0008). Among other liver function tests, we also confirmed the previous effect of the ABO blood group locus for variation in serum alkaline phosphatase (rs579459, p = 9.44x10-15)., Conclusions: Taken together, our data present interesting findings with strong confirmation of previous effects by simply using the eMERGE electronic health record phenotyping. In addition, our findings indicate that similar to the adult population, the UGT1A1 is the main locus responsible for normal variation of serum bilirubin in pediatric populations.

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the most effective controller medications for asthma, and variability in ICS response is associated with genetic variation. Despite ICS treatment, some patients with poor asthma control experience severe asthma exacerbations, defined as a hospitalization or emergency room visit. We hypothesized that some individuals may be at increased risk of asthma exacerbations, despite ICS use, due to genetic factors. A GWAS of 237,726 common, independent markers was conducted in 806 Caucasian asthmatic patients from two population-based biobanks: BioVU, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Tennessee (369 patients), and Personalized Medicine Research Project (PMRP) at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin (437 patients). Using a case-control study design, the association of each SNP locus with the outcome of asthma exacerbations (defined as asthma-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations concurrent with oral corticosteroid use), was evaluated for each population by logistic regression analysis, adjusting for age, gender and the first four principal components. A meta-analysis of the results was conducted. Validation of expression of selected candidate genes was determined by evaluating an independent microarray expression data set. Our study identified six novel SNPs associated with differential risk of asthma exacerbations (P < 10(-05)). The top GWAS result, rs2395672 in CMTR1, was associated with an increased risk of exacerbations in both populations (OR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.03-1.11; joint P = 2.3 × 10(-06)). Two SNPs (rs2395672 and rs279728) were associated with increased risk of exacerbations, while the remaining four SNPs (rs4271056, rs6467778, rs2691529, and rs9303988) were associated with decreased risk. Three SNPs (rs2395672, rs6467778, and rs2691529) were present in three genes: CMTR1, TRIM24 and MAGI2. The CMTR1 mRNA transcript was significantly differentially expressed in nasal lavage samples from asthmatics during acute exacerbations, suggesting potential involvement of this gene in the development of this phenotype. We show that genetic variability may contribute to asthma exacerbations in patients taking ICS. Furthermore, our studies implicate CMTR1 as a novel candidate gene with potential roles in the pathogenesis of asthma exacerbations.

Several reports have shown that statin treatment benefits patients with asthma; however, inconsistent effects have been observed. The mir-152 family (148a, 148b and 152) has been implicated in asthma. These microRNAs suppress HLA-G expression, and rs1063320, a common SNP in the HLA-G 3'UTR that is associated with asthma risk, modulates miRNA binding. We report that statins upregulate mir-148b and 152, and affect HLA-G expression in an rs1063320-dependent fashion. In addition, we found that individuals who carried the G minor allele of rs1063320 had reduced asthma-related exacerbations (emergency department visits, hospitalizations or oral steroid use) compared with non-carriers (P=0.03) in statin users ascertained in the Personalized Medicine Research Project at the Marshfield Clinic (n=421). These findings support the hypothesis that rs1063320 modifies the effect of statin benefit in asthma, and thus may contribute to variation in statin efficacy for the management of this disease.

Vancomycin, a commonly used antibiotic, can be nephrotoxic. Known risk factors such as age, creatinine clearance, vancomycin dose / dosing interval, and concurrent nephrotoxic medications fail to accurately predict nephrotoxicity. To identify potential genomic risk factors, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of serum creatinine levels while on vancomycin in 489 European American individuals and validated findings in three independent cohorts totaling 439 European American individuals. In primary analyses, the chromosome 6q22.31 locus was associated with increased serum creatinine levels while on vancomycin therapy (most significant variant rs2789047, risk allele A, β = -0.06, p = 1.1 x 10(-7)). SNPs in this region had consistent directions of effect in the validation cohorts, with a meta-p of 1.1 x 10(-7). Variation in this region on chromosome 6, which includes the genes TBC1D32/C6orf170 and GJA1 (encoding connexin43), may modulate risk of vancomycin-induced kidney injury.

Purpose: To estimate glaucoma and ocular hypertension prevalence and to describe temporal trends in prescribing patterns and intraocular pressure (IOP) response to topical medications used in glaucoma and ocular hypertension., Materials and Methods: The medical records of adult subjects enrolled in the population-based Marshfield Clinic Personalized Medicine Research Project were searched to identify participants who had been diagnosed with ocular hypertension or glaucoma and prescribed agent(s) to lower IOP. All IOPs before and after prescription of the IOP agents were recorded., Results: As of December 31, 2005, 18,773 adults were enrolled in the Personalized Medicine Research Project, 57.1% were female, and their mean age was 50.3 years (range, 18 to 101 y). The overall rate of definite glaucoma in subjects aged 50 years and above was 2.1% (95% confidence interval=1.2, 2.4) and the rate of treated ocular hypertension was 1.4% (95% confidence interval=1.2, 1.7). Topical beta-blockers were the agents prescribed for the majority of subjects until the year 2000, when prostaglandins, first used in 1995, became the primary agent prescribed. In 2005, 75% of subjects used prostaglandin analogs and 46% used topical beta-blockers. The largest relative reduction in IOP in the first 3 months after prescription was observed for prostaglandin analogs (21.4% mean relative reduction), followed by beta-blockers (20.9% mean relative reduction). There has been a significant decrease over time in mean IOP before initiating medical therapy (linear regression beta coefficient=-0.30, P<0.0001, r=0.09)., Conclusions: In this clinic-based setting, we found that treatment of glaucoma has changed over the past 20 years, with ophthalmologists more likely to begin treatment at lower baseline levels of IOP, and prostaglandin analogs the most commonly prescribed and agent to lower IOP.