An intronic SNP in ADAMTS17 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 17), which showed modest association (rs1994016; P=1.1×10-4) in our primary analysis, showed a much stronger association in the expanded reference group analysis (see below and Supplementary Table 9). Although the specific function of ADAMTS17 has not been determined, other members of the ADAMTS family have been implicated in vascular extracellular matrix degradation, vascular remodelling and atherosclerosis54,55.
