Browsing by Author "Broer, Linda"

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    Body mass index is negatively associated with telomere length: a collaborative cross-sectional meta-analysis of 87 observational studies
    (Oxford University Press, 2018-09) Gielen, Marij; Hageman, Geja J.; Antoniou, Evangelia E.; Nordfjall, Katarina; Mangino, Massimo; Balasubramanyam, Muthuswamy; de Meyer, Tim; Hendricks, Audrey E.; Giltay, Erik J.; Hunt, Steven C.; Nettleton, Jennifer A.; Salpea, Klelia D.; Diaz, Vanessa A.; Farzaneh-Far, Ramin; Atzmon, Gil; Harris, Sarah E.; Hou, Lifang; Gilley, David; Hovatta, Iiris; Kark, Jeremy D.; Nassar, Hisham; Kurz, David J.; Mather, Karen A.; Willeit, Peter; Zheng, Yun-Ling; Pavanello, Sofia; Demerath, Ellen W.; Rode, Line; Bunout, Daniel; Steptoe, Andrew; Boardman, Lisa; Marti, Amelia; Needham, Belinda; Zheng, Wei; Ramsey-Goldman, Rosalind; Pellatt, Andrew J.; Kaprio, Jaakko; Hofmann, Jonathan N.; Gieger, Christian; Paolisso, Giuseppe; Hjelmborg, Jacob B. H.; Mirabello, Lisa; Seeman, Teresa; Wong, Jason; van der Harst, Pim; Broer, Linda; Kronenberg, Florian; Kollerits, Barbara; Strandberg, Timo; Eisenberg, Dan T. A.; Duggan, Catherine; Verhoeven, Josine E.; Schaakxs, Roxanne; Zannolli, Raffaela; dos Reis, Rosana M. R.; Charchar, Fadi J.; Tomaszewski, Maciej; Mons, Ute; Demuth, Ilja; Iglesias Molli, Andrea Elena; Cheng, Guo; Krasnienkov, Dmytro; D'Antono, Bianca; Kasielski, Marek; McDonnell, Barry J.; Ebstein, Richard Paul; Sundquist, Kristina; Pare, Guillaume; Chong, Michael; Zeegers, Maurice P.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background: Even before the onset of age-related diseases, obesity might be a contributing factor to the cumulative burden of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation throughout the life course. Obesity may therefore contribute to accelerated shortening of telomeres. Consequently, obese persons are more likely to have shorter telomeres, but the association between body mass index (BMI) and leukocyte telomere length (TL) might differ across the life span and between ethnicities and sexes. Objective: A collaborative cross-sectional meta-analysis of observational studies was conducted to investigate the associations between BMI and TL across the life span. Design: Eighty-seven distinct study samples were included in the meta-analysis capturing data from 146,114 individuals. Study-specific age- and sex-adjusted regression coefficients were combined by using a random-effects model in which absolute [base pairs (bp)] and relative telomere to single-copy gene ratio (T/S ratio) TLs were regressed against BMI. Stratified analysis was performed by 3 age categories ("young": 18-60 y; "middle": 61-75 y; and "old": >75 y), sex, and ethnicity. Results: Each unit increase in BMI corresponded to a -3.99 bp (95% CI: -5.17, -2.81 bp) difference in TL in the total pooled sample; among young adults, each unit increase in BMI corresponded to a -7.67 bp (95% CI: -10.03, -5.31 bp) difference. Each unit increase in BMI corresponded to a -1.58 × 10(-3) unit T/S ratio (0.16% decrease; 95% CI: -2.14 × 10(-3), -1.01 × 10(-3)) difference in age- and sex-adjusted relative TL in the total pooled sample; among young adults, each unit increase in BMI corresponded to a -2.58 × 10(-3) unit T/S ratio (0.26% decrease; 95% CI: -3.92 × 10(-3), -1.25 × 10(-3)). The associations were predominantly for the white pooled population. No sex differences were observed. Conclusions: A higher BMI is associated with shorter telomeres, especially in younger individuals. The presently observed difference is not negligible. Meta-analyses of longitudinal studies evaluating change in body weight alongside change in TL are warranted.
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    Disentangling the genetics of lean mass
    (Oxford University Press, 2019-02-01) Karasik, David; Zillikens, M. Carola; Hsu, Yi-Hsiang; Aghdassi, Ali; Akesson, Kristina; Amin, Najaf; Barroso, Inês; Bennett, David A.; Bertram, Lars; Bochud, Murielle; Borecki, Ingrid B.; Broer, Linda; Buchman, Aron S.; Byberg, Liisa; Campbell, Harry; Campos-Obando, Natalia; Cauley, Jane A.; Cawthon, Peggy M.; Chambers, John C.; Chen, Zhao; Cho, Nam H.; Choi, Hyung Jin; Chou, Wen-Chi; Cummings, Steven R.; De Groot, Lisette C. P. G. M.; De Jager, Phillip L.; Demuth, Ilja; Diatchenko, Luda; Econs, Michael J.; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Enneman, Anke W.; Eriksson, Joel; Eriksson, Johan G.; Estrada, Karol; Evans, Daniel S.; Feitosa, Mary F.; Fu, Mao; Gieger, Christian; Grallert, Harald; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Lenore, Launer J.; Hayward, Caroline; Hofman, Albert; Homuth, Georg; Huffman, Kim M.; Husted, Lise B.; Illig, Thomas; Ingelsson, Erik; Ittermann, Till; Jansson, John-Olov; Johnson, Toby; Biffar, Reiner; Jordan, Joanne M.; Jula, Antti; Karlsson, Magnus; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Kilpeläinen, Tuomas O.; Klopp, Norman; Kloth, Jacqueline S. L.; Koller, Daniel L.; Kooner, Jaspal S.; Kraus, William E.; Kritchevsky, Stephen; Kutalik, Zoltán; Kuulasmaa, Teemu; Kuusisto, Johanna; Laakso, Markku; Lahti, Jari; Lang, Thomas; Langdahl, Bente L.; Lerch, Markus M.; Lewis, Joshua R.; Lill, Christina; Lind, Lars; Lindgren, Cecilia; Liu, Yongmei; Livshits, Gregory; Ljunggren, Östen; Loos, Ruth J. F.; Lorentzon, Mattias; Luan, Jian'an; Luben, Robert N.; Malkin, Ida; McGuigan, Fiona E.; Medina-Gomez, Carolina; Meitinger, Thomas; Melhus, Håkan; Mellström, Dan; Michaëlsson, Karl; Mitchell, Braxton D.; Morris, Andrew P.; Mosekilde, Leif; Nethander, Maria; Newman, Anne B.; O'Connell, Jeffery R.; Oostra, Ben A.; Orwoll, Eric S.; Palotie, Aarno; Peacock, Munro; Perola, Markus; Peters, Annette; Prince, Richard L.; Psaty, Bruce M.; Räikkönen, Katri; Ralston, Stuart H.; Ripatti, Samuli; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Robbins, John A.; Rotter, Jerome I.; Rudan, Igor; Salomaa, Veikko; Satterfield, Suzanne; Schipf, Sabine; Shin, Chan Soo; Smith, Albert V.; Smith, Shad B.; Soranzo, Nicole; Spector, Timothy D.; Stančáková, Alena; Stefansson, Kari; Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth; Stolk, Lisette; Streeten, Elizabeth A.; Styrkarsdottir, Unnur; Swart, Karin M. A.; Thompson, Patricia; Thomson, Cynthia A.; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Tikkanen, Emmi; Tranah, Gregory J.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Van Schoor, Natasja M.; Vandenput, Liesbeth; Vollenweider, Peter; Völzke, Henry; Wactawski-Wende, Jean; Walker, Mark; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Waterworth, Dawn; Weedon, Michael N.; Wichmann, H-Erich.; Widen, Elisabeth; Williams, Frances M. K.; Wilson, James F.; Wright, Nicole C.; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M.; Yu, Lei; Zhang, Weihua; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zhou, Yanhua; Nielson, Carrie M.; Harris, Tamara B.; Demissie, Serkalem; Kiel, Douglas P.; Ohlsson, Claes; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Lean body mass (LM) plays an important role in mobility and metabolic function. We previously identified five loci associated with LM adjusted for fat mass in kilograms. Such an adjustment may reduce the power to identify genetic signals having an association with both lean mass and fat mass. Objectives: To determine the impact of different fat mass adjustments on genetic architecture of LM and identify additional LM loci. Methods: We performed genome-wide association analyses for whole-body LM (20 cohorts of European ancestry with n = 38,292) measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) or bioelectrical impedance analysis, adjusted for sex, age, age2, and height with or without fat mass adjustments (Model 1 no fat adjustment; Model 2 adjustment for fat mass as a percentage of body mass; Model 3 adjustment for fat mass in kilograms). Results: Seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in separate loci, including one novel LM locus (TNRC6B), were successfully replicated in an additional 47,227 individuals from 29 cohorts. Based on the strengths of the associations in Model 1 vs Model 3, we divided the LM loci into those with an effect on both lean mass and fat mass in the same direction and refer to those as "sumo wrestler" loci (FTO and MC4R). In contrast, loci with an impact specifically on LM were termed "body builder" loci (VCAN and ADAMTSL3). Using existing available genome-wide association study databases, LM increasing alleles of SNPs in sumo wrestler loci were associated with an adverse metabolic profile, whereas LM increasing alleles of SNPs in "body builder" loci were associated with metabolic protection. Conclusions: In conclusion, we identified one novel LM locus (TNRC6B). Our results suggest that a genetically determined increase in lean mass might exert either harmful or protective effects on metabolic traits, depending on its relation to fat mass.
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    Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior
    (Nature, 2016-10) Barban, Nicola; Jansen, Rick; de Vlaming, Ronald; Vaez, Ahmad; Mandemakers, Jornt J.; Tropf, Felix C.; Shen, Xia; Wilson, James F.; Chasman, Daniel I.; Nolte, Ilja M.; Tragante, Vinicius; van der Laan, Sander W.; Perry, John R. B.; Kong, Augustine; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer; Albrecht, Eva; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura; Atzmon, Gil; Auro, Kirsi; Ayers, Kristin; Bakshi, Andrew; Ben-Avraham, Danny; Berger, Klaus; Bergman, Aviv; Bertram, Lars; Bielak, Lawrence F.; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Bonder, Marc Jan; Broer, Linda; Bui, Minh; Barbieri, Caterina; Cavadino, Alana; Chavarro, Jorge E; Turman, Constance; Concas, Maria Pina; Cordell, Heather J.; Davies, Gail; Eibich, Peter; Eriksson, Nicholas; Esko, Tõnu; Eriksson, Joel; Falahi, Fahimeh; Felix, Janine F.; Fontana, Mark Alan; Franke, Lude; Gandin, Ilaria; Gaskins, Audrey J.; Gieger, Christian; Gunderson, Erica P.; Guo, Xiuqing; Hayward, Caroline; He, Chunyan; Hofer, Edith; Huang, Hongyan; Joshi, Peter K.; Kanoni, Stavroula; Karlsson, Robert; Kiechl, Stefan; Kifley, Annette; Kluttig, Alexander; Kraft, Peter; Lagou, Vasiliki; Lecoeur, Cecile; Lahti, Jari; Li-Gao, Ruifang; Lind, Penelope A.; Liu, Tian; Makalic, Enes; Mamasoula, Crysovalanto; Matteson, Lindsay; Mbarek, Hamdi; McArdle, Patrick F.; McMahon, George; Meddens, S. Fleur W.; Mihailov, Evelin; Miller, Mike; Missmer, Stacey A.; Monnereau, Claire; van der Most, Peter J.; Myhre, Ronny; Nalls, Mike A.; Nutile, Teresa; Panagiota, Kalafati Ioanna; Porcu, Eleonora; Prokopenko, Inga; Rajan, Kumar B.; Rich-Edwards, Janet; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Robino, Antonietta; Rose, Lynda M.; Rueedi, Rico; Ryan, Kathy; Saba, Yasaman; Schmidt, Daniel; Smith, Jennifer A.; Stolk, Lisette; Streeten, Elizabeth; Tonjes, Anke; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Ulivi, Sheila; Wedenoja, Juho; Wellman, Juergen; Willeit, Peter; Yao, Jie; Yengo, Loic; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zhao, Wei; Zhernakova, Daria V.; Amin, Najaf; Andrews, Howard; Balkau, Beverly; Barzilai, Nir; Bergmann, Sven; Biino, Ginevra; Bisgaard, Hans; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Buring, Julie E.; Campbell, Harry; Cappellani, Stefania; Ciullo, Marina; Cox, Simon R.; Cucca, Francesco; Daniela, Toniolo; Davey-Smith, George; Deary, Ian J.; Dedoussis, George; Deloukas, Panos; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Evans, Denis A.; Faul, Jessica D.; Felicita, Sala Cinzia; Froguel, Philippe; Gasparini, Paolo; Girotto, Giorgia; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Greiser, Karin Halina; Groenen, Patrick J. F.; de Haan, Hugoline G.; Haerting, Johannes; Harris, Tamara B.; Heath, Andrew C.; Heikkilä, Kauko; Hofman, Albert; Homuth, Georg; Holliday, Elizabeth G.; Hopper, John; Hypponen, Elina; Jacobsson, Bo; Jaddoe, Vincent W.; Johannesson, Magnus; Jugessur, Astanand; Kähönen, Mika; Kajantie, Eero; Kardia, Sharon L. R.; Keavney, Bernard; Kolcic, Ivana; Koponen, Päivikki; Kovacs, Peter; Kronenberg, Florian; Kutalik, Zoltan; La Bianca, Martina; Lachance, Genevieve; Iacono, William; Lai, Sandra; Lehtimäki, Terho; Liewald, David C.; Lindgren, Cecilia; Liu, Yongmei; Luben, Robert; Lucht, Michael; Luoto, Riitta; Magnus, Per; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Martin, Nicholas G.; McGue, Matt; McQuillan, Ruth; Medland, Sarah E.; Meisinger, Christa; Mellström, Dan; Metspalu, Andres; Michela, Traglia; Milani, Lili; Mitchell, Paul; Montgomery, Grant W.; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis; de Mutsert, Renée; Nohr, Ellen A.; Ohlsson, Claes; Olsen, Jørn; Ong, Ken K.; Paternoster, Lavinia; Pattie, Alison; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Perola, Markus; Peyser, Patricia A.; Pirastu, Mario; Polasek, Ozren; Power, Chris; Kaprio, Jaakko; Raffel, Leslie J.; Räikkönen, Katri; Raitakari, Olli; Ridker, Paul M.; Ring, Susan M.; Roll, Kathryn; Rudan, Igor; Ruggiero, Daniela; Rujescu, Dan; Salomaa, Veikko; Schlessinger, David; Schmidt, Helena; Schmidt, Reinhold; Schupf, Nicole; Smit, Johannes; Sorice, Rossella; Spector, Tim D.; Starr, John M.; Stöckl, Doris; Strauch, Konstantin; Stumvoll, Michael; Swertz, Morris A.; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thurik, A. Roy; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Tönjes, Anke; Tung, Joyce Y.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Vaccargiu, Simona; Viikari, Jorma; Vitart, Veronique; Völzke, Henry; Vollenweider, Peter; Vuckovic, Dragana; Waage, Johannes; Wagner, Gert G.; Wang, Jie Jin; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Weir, David R.; Willemsen, Gonneke; Willeit, Johann; Wright, Alan F.; Zondervan, Krina T.; Stefannson, Kari; Krueger, Robert F.; Lee, James J.; Benjamin, Daniel J.; Cesarini, David; Koellinger, Philipp D.; den Hoed, Marcel; Snieder, Harold; Mills, Melinda C.; Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    The genetic architecture of human reproductive behavior—age at first birth (AFB) and number of children ever born (NEB)—has a strong relationship with fitness, human development, infertility and risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, very few genetic loci have been identified, and the underlying mechanisms of AFB and NEB are poorly understood. We report a large genome-wide association study of both sexes including 251,151 individuals for AFB and 343,072 individuals for NEB. We identified 12 independent loci that are significantly associated with AFB and/or NEB in a SNP-based genome-wide association study and 4 additional loci associated in a gene-based effort. These loci harbor genes that are likely to have a role, either directly or by affecting non-local gene expression, in human reproduction and infertility, thereby increasing understanding of these complex traits.
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    Genome-wide association study in 79,366 European-ancestry individuals informs the genetic architecture of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2018-01-17) Jiang, Xia; O’Reilly, Paul F.; Aschard, Hugues; Hsu, Yi-Hsiang; Richards, J. Brent; Dupuis, Josée; Ingelsson, Erik; Karasik, David; Pilz, Stefan; Berry, Diane; Kestenbaum, Bryan; Zheng, Jusheng; Luan, Jianan; Sofianopoulou, Eleni; Streeten, Elizabeth A.; Albanes, Demetrius; Lutsey, Pamela L.; Yao, Lu; Tang, Weihong; Econs, Michael J.; Wallaschofski, Henri; Völzke, Henry; Zhou, Ang; Power, Chris; McCarthy, Mark I.; Michos, Erin D.; Boerwinkle, Eric; Weinstein, Stephanie J.; Freedman, Neal D.; Huang, Wen-Yi; Van Schoor, Natasja M.; Velde, Nathalie van der; de Groot, Lisette C. P. G. M.; Enneman, Anke; Cupples, L. Adrienne; Booth, Sarah L.; Vasan, Ramachandran S.; Liu, Ching-Ti; Zhou, Yanhua; Ripatti, Samuli; Ohlsson, Claes; Vandenput, Liesbeth; Lorentzon, Mattias; Eriksson, Johan G.; Shea, M. Kyla; Houston, Denise K.; Kritchevsky, Stephen B.; Liu, Yongmei; Lohman, Kurt K.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Peacock, Munro; Gieger, Christian; Beekman, Marian; Slagboom, Eline; Deelen, Joris; Heemst, Diana van; Kleber, Marcus E.; März, Winfried; de Boer, Ian H.; Wood, Alexis C.; Rotter, Jerome I.; Rich, Stephen S.; Robinson-Cohen, Cassianne; Heijer, Martin den; Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Cavadino, Alana; Joshi, Peter K.; Wilson, James F.; Hayward, Caroline; Lind, Lars; Michaëlsson, Karl; Trompet, Stella; Zillikens, M. Carola; Uitterlinden, Andre G.; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Broer, Linda; Zgaga, Lina; Campbell, Harry; Theodoratou, Evropi; Farrington, Susan M.; Timofeeva, Maria; Dunlop, Malcolm G.; Valdes, Ana M.; Tikkanen, Emmi; Lehtimäki, Terho; Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka; Kähönen, Mika; Raitakari, Olli T.; Mikkilä, Vera; Ikram, M. Arfan; Sattar, Naveed; Jukema, J. Wouter; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Langenberg, Claudia; Forouhi, Nita G.; Gundersen, Thomas E.; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Butterworth, Adam S.; Danesh, John; Spector, Timothy; Wang, Thomas J.; Hyppönen, Elina; Kraft, Peter; Kiel, Douglas P.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Vitamin D is a steroid hormone precursor that is associated with a range of human traits and diseases. Previous GWAS of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations have identified four genome-wide significant loci (GC, NADSYN1/DHCR7, CYP2R1, CYP24A1). In this study, we expand the previous SUNLIGHT Consortium GWAS discovery sample size from 16,125 to 79,366 (all European descent). This larger GWAS yields two additional loci harboring genome-wide significant variants (P = 4.7×10-9 at rs8018720 in SEC23A, and P = 1.9×10-14 at rs10745742 in AMDHD1). The overall estimate of heritability of 25-hydroxyvitamin D serum concentrations attributable to GWAS common SNPs is 7.5%, with statistically significant loci explaining 38% of this total. Further investigation identifies signal enrichment in immune and hematopoietic tissues, and clustering with autoimmune diseases in cell-type-specific analysis. Larger studies are required to identify additional common SNPs, and to explore the role of rare or structural variants and gene-gene interactions in the heritability of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels
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    Genomic analyses identify hundreds of variants associated with age at menarche and support a role for puberty timing in cancer risk
    (Nature, 2017) Day, Felix R.; Thompson, Deborah J.; Helgason, Hannes; Chasman, Daniel I.; Finucane, Hilary; Sulem, Patrick; Ruth, Katherine S.; Whalen, Sean; Sarkar, Abhishek K.; Albrecht, Eva; Altmaier, Elisabeth; Amini, Marzyeh; Barbieri, Caterina M.; Boutin, Thibaud; Campbell, Archie; Demerath, Ellen; Giri, Ayush; He, Chunyan; Hottenga, Jouke J.; Karlsson, Robert; Kolchic, Ivana; Loh, Po-Ru; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Mangino, Massimo; Marco, Brumat; McMahon, George; Medland, Sarah E.; Nolte, Ilja M.; Noordam, Raymond; Nutile, Teresa; Paternoster, Lavinia; Perjakova, Natalia; Porcu, Eleonora; Rose, Lynda M.; Schraut, Katharina E.; Segrè, Ayellet V.; Smith, Albert V.; Stolk, Lisette; Teumer, Alexander; Andrulis, Irene L.; Bandinelli, Stefania; Beckmann, Matthias W.; Benitez, Javier; Bergmann, Sven; Bochud, Murielle; Boerwinkle, Eric; Bojesen, Stig E.; Bolla, Manjeet K.; Brand, Judith S.; Brauch, Hiltrud; Brenner, Hermann; Broer, Linda; Brüning, Thomas; Buring, Julie E.; Campbell, Harry; Catamo, Eulalia; Chanock, Stephen; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Corre, Tanguy; Couch, Fergus J.; Cousminer, Diana L.; Cox, Angela; Crisponi, Laura; Czene, Kamila; Davey-Smith, George; de Geus, Eco J. C. N.; de Mutsert, Renée; De Vivo, Immaculata; Dennis, Joe; Devilee, Peter; dos-Santos-Silva, Isabel; Dunning, Alison M.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Fasching, Peter A.; Fernández-Rhodes, Lindsay; Ferrucci, Luigi; Flesch-Janys, Dieter; Franke, Lude; Gabrielson, Marike; Gandin, Ilaria; Giles, Graham G.; Grallert, Harald; Gudbjartsson, Daniel F.; Guéne, Pascal; Hall, Perr; Hallberg, Emily; Hamann, Ute; Harris, Tamara B.; Hartman, Catharina A.; Heiss, Gerardo; Hooning, Maartje J.; Hopper, John L.; Hu, Frank; Hunter, David; Ikram, M. Arfan; Im, Hae Kyung; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Joshi, Peter K.; Karasik, David; Kutalik, Zoltan; LaChance, Genevieve; Lambrechts, Diether; Langenberg, Claudia; Launer, Lenore J.; Laven, Joop S. E.; Lenarduzzi, Stefania; Li, Jingmei; Lind, Penelope A.; Lindstrom, Sara; Liu, YongMei; Luan, Jian'an; Mannermaa, Arto; Mbarek, Hamdi; McCarthy, Mark I.; Meisinger, Christa; Meitinger, Thomas; Menni, Cristina; Metspalu, Andres; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Milani, Lili; Milne, Roger L.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Mulligan, Anna M.; Nalls, Mike A.; Navarro, Pau; Nevanlinna, Heli; Nyholt, Dale R.; Oldehinkel, Albertine J.; O'Mara, Tracy A.; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Palotie, Aarno; Pedersen, Nancy; Peters, Annette; Peto, Julian; Pharoah, Paul D. P.; Pouta, Anneli; Radice, Paolo; Rahman, Iffat; Ring, Susan M.; Robino, Antonietta; Rosendaal, Frits R.; Rudan, Igor; Rueedi, Rico; Ruggiero, Daniela; Sala, Cinzia F.; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Scott, Robert A.; Shah, Mitul; Sorice, Rossella; Southey, Melissa C.; Sovio, Ulla; Stampfer, Meir; Steri, Maristella; Strauch, Konstantin; Tanaka, Toshiko; Tikkanen, Emmi; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Traglia, Michela; Truong, Thérèse; Tyrer, Jonathan P.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Edwards, Digna R. Velez; Vitart, Veronique; Völker, Uwe; Vollenweider, Peter; Wang, Qin; Widen, Elisabeth; van Dijk, Ko Willems; Willemsen, Gonneke; Winqvist, Robert; Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H. R.; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zoledziewska, Magdalena; Zygmunt, Marek; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Ciullo, Marina; Cucca, Francesco; Esko, Tõnu; Franceschini, Nora; Gieger, Christian; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Hayward, Caroline; Kraft, Peter; Lawlor, Debbie A.; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Martin, Nicholas G.; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O.; Nohr, Ellen A.; Polasek, Ozren; Porteous, David; Price, Alkes L.; Ridker, Paul M.; Snieder, Harold; Spector, Tim D.; Stöckl, Doris; Toniolo, Daniela; Ulivi, Sheila; Visser, Jenny A.; Völzke, Henry; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Wilson, James F.; Spurdle, Amanda B.; Thorsteindottir, Unnur; Pollard, Katherine S.; Easton, Douglas F.; Tung, Joyce Y.; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Hinds, David; Murray, Anna; Murabito, Joanne M.; Stefansson, Kari; Ong, Ken K.; Perry, John R. B.; The Lifelines Cohort Study; The InterAct Consortium; kConFab/AOCS Investigators; Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium; Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium; PRACTICAL consortium; Epidemiology, School of Public Health
    The timing of puberty is a highly polygenic childhood trait that is epidemiologically associated with various adult diseases. Using 1000 Genomes Project–imputed genotype data in up to ∼370,000 women, we identify 389 independent signals (P < 5 × 10−8) for age at menarche, a milestone in female pubertal development. In Icelandic data, these signals explain ∼7.4% of the population variance in age at menarche, corresponding to ∼25% of the estimated heritability. We implicate ∼250 genes via coding variation or associated expression, demonstrating significant enrichment in neural tissues. Rare variants near the imprinted genes MKRN3 and DLK1 were identified, exhibiting large effects when paternally inherited. Mendelian randomization analyses suggest causal inverse associations, independent of body mass index (BMI), between puberty timing and risks for breast and endometrial cancers in women and prostate cancer in men. In aggregate, our findings highlight the complexity of the genetic regulation of puberty timing and support causal links with cancer susceptibility.