We conducted meta-analyses of GWAS results for a cross-sectional analysis of pulmonary function (FEV1/FVC and FEV1) in 20,890 individuals of European ancestry from four Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium14 studies: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC), Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), FHS, and Rotterdam Study (RS-I and RS-II). Given that cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for pulmonary function decline, we conducted meta-analyses with adjustment for smoking status and quantity, and in subgroups of ever and never smokers. Significant findings and other selected high-signal hits were evaluated for replication with the SpiroMeta consortium, an independent consortium having a combined sample size of 20,228 participants of European ancestry as described in the accompanying manuscript.
