
Assessing the association of common genetic variants in EPHB4 and RASA1 with phenotype severity in familial cerebral cavernous malformation
Author(s) -
Choksi Foram,
Weinsheimer Shantel,
Nelson Jeffrey,
Pawlikowska Ludmila,
Fox Christine K.,
Zafar Atif,
Mabray Marc C.,
Zabramski Joseph,
Akers Amy,
Hart Blaine L.,
Morrison Leslie,
McCulloch Charles E.,
Kim Helen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
molecular genetics and genomic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 2324-9269
DOI - 10.1002/mgg3.1794
Subject(s) - medicine , lesion , bonferroni correction , phenotype , odds ratio , logistic regression , pathology , cavernous malformations , gastroenterology , oncology , genetics , biology , gene , mathematics , statistics
Background To investigate whether common variants in EPHB4 and RASA1 are associated with cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) disease severity phenotypes, including intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), total and large lesion counts. Methods Familial CCM cases enrolled in the Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium were included ( n = 338). Total lesions and large lesions (≥5 mm) were counted on MRI; clinical history of ICH at enrollment was assessed by medical records. Samples were genotyped on the Affymetrix Axiom Genome‐Wide LAT1 Human Array. We tested the association of seven common variants (three in EPHB4 and four in RASA1 ) using multivariable logistic regression for ICH (odds ratio, OR) and multivariable linear regression for total and large lesion counts (proportional increase, PI), adjusting for age, sex, and three principal components. Significance was based on Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons (0.05/7 variants = 0.007). Results EPHB4 variants were not significantly associated with CCM severity phenotypes. One RASA1 intronic variant (rs72783711 A>C) was significantly associated with ICH (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.21–2.37, p = 0.004) and nominally associated with large lesion count (PI = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.03–1.32, p = 0.02). Conclusion A common RASA1 variant may be associated with ICH and large lesion count in familial CCM. EPHB4 variants were not associated with any of the three CCM severity phenotypes.