A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for adiponectin levels in East Asians identifies a novel locus near WDR11-FGFR2

Blood levels of adiponectin, an adipocyte-secreted protein correlated with metabolic and cardiovascular risks, are highly heritable. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies for adiponectin levels have identified 14 loci harboring variants associated with blood levels of adiponectin. To identify novel adiponectin-associated loci, particularly those of importance in East Asians, we conducted a meta-analysis of GWA studies for adiponectin in 7827 individuals, followed by two stages of replications in 4298 and 5954 additional individuals. We identified a novel adiponectin-associated locus on chromosome 10 near WDR11-FGFR2 (P = 3.0 × 10−14) and provided suggestive evidence for a locus on chromosome 12 near OR8S1-LALBA (P = 1.2 × 10−7). Of the adiponectin-associated loci previously described, we confirmed the association at CDH13 (P = 6.8 × 10−165), ADIPOQ (P = 1.8 × 10−22), PEPD (P = 3.6 × 10−12), CMIP (P = 2.1 × 10−10), ZNF664 (P = 2.3 × 10−7) and GPR109A (P = 7.4 × 10−6). Conditional analysis at ADIPOQ revealed a second signal with suggestive evidence of association only after conditioning on the lead SNP (Pinitial = 0.020; Pconditional = 7.0 × 10−7). We further confirmed the independence of two pairs of closely located loci (