A Genome-Wide Association Study in Hispanics/Latinos Identifies Novel Signals for Lung Function. The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

Rationale Lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are heritable traits. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous pulmonary function and COPD loci, primarily in cohorts of European ancestry. Objectives Perform a GWAS of COPD phenotypes in Hispanic/Latino populations to identify loci not previously detected in European populations. Methods GWAS of lung function and COPD in Hispanic/Latino participants from a population-based cohort. We performed replication studies of novel loci in independent studies. Measurements and Main Results Among 11,822 Hispanic/Latino participants, we identified eight novel signals; three replicated in independent populations of European Ancestry. A novel locus for FEV1 in ZSWIM7 (rs4791658; P = 4.99 × 10−9) replicated. A rare variant (minor allele frequency = 0.002) in HAL (rs145174011) was associated with FEV1/FVC (P = 9.59 × 10−9) in a region previously identified for COPD-related phenotypes; it remained significant in conditional analyses but did not replicate. Admixture mapping identified a novel region, with a variant in AGMO (rs41331850), associated with Amerindian ancestry and FEV1, which replicated. A novel locus for FEV1 identified among ever smokers (rs291231; P = 1.92 × 10−8) approached statistical significance for replication in admixed populations of African ancestry, and a novel SNP for COPD in PDZD2 (rs7709630; P = 1.56 × 10−8) regionally replicated. In addition, loci previously identified for lung function in European samples were associated in Hispanic/Latino participants in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos at the genome-wide significance level. Conclusions We identified novel signals for lung function and COPD in a Hispanic/Latino cohort. Including admixed populations when performing genetic studies may identify variants contributing to genetic etiologies of COPD.