Rationale:
Although HDL-C levels are known to have a complex genetic basis, most studies have focused solely on identifying rare variants with large phenotypic effects to explain extreme HDL-C phenotypes.
Objective:
Here we concurrently evaluate the contribution of both rare and common genetic variants, as well as large-scale copy number variations (CNVs), towards extreme HDL-C concentrations.
Methods:
In clinically ascertained patients with low (
N
=136) and high (
N
=119) HDL-C profiles, we applied our targeted next-generation sequencing panel (LipidSeq
TM
) to sequence genes involved in HDL metabolism, which were subsequently screened for rare variants and CNVs. We also developed a novel polygenic trait score (PTS) to assess patients’ genetic accumulations of common variants that have been shown by genome-wide association studies to associate primarily with HDL-C levels. Two additional cohorts of patients with extremely low and high HDL-C (total
N
=1,746 and
N
=1,139, respectively) were used for PTS validation.
Results:
In the discovery cohort, 32.4% of low HDL-C patients carried rare variants or CNVs in primary (
ABCA1
,
APOA1
,
LCAT
) and secondary (
LPL
,
LMF1
,
GPD1
,
APOE
) HDL-C–altering genes. Additionally, 13.4% of high HDL-C patients carried rare variants or CNVs in primary (
SCARB1
,
CETP
,
LIPC
,
LIPG
) and secondary (
APOC3
,
ANGPTL4
) HDL-C–altering genes. For polygenic effects, patients with abnormal HDL-C profiles but without rare variants or CNVs were ~2-fold more likely to have an extreme PTS compared to normolipidemic individuals, indicating an increased frequency of common HDL-C–associated variants in these patients. Similar results in the two validation cohorts demonstrate that this novel PTS successfully quantifies common variant accumulation, further characterizing the polygenic basis for extreme HDL-C phenotypes.
Conclusions:
Patients with extreme HDL-C levels have various combinations of rare variants, common variants, or CNVs driving their phenotypes. Fully characterizing the genetic basis of HDL-C levels must extend to encompass multiple types of genetic determinants—not just rare variants—to further our understanding of this complex, controversial quantitative trait.