After combining gender- and study-specific measures of association across all studies (maximum possible N = 109,269: Tables S2 and S3), we identified three signals reaching genome-wide levels of significance in the joint analysis of stage 1 and stage 2 data (P<5×10−8, Table 1, Figure 3). In all three instances, the association was observed with WC. The first (rs987237, chromosome 6p12: P = 4.5×10−9) maps near TFAP2B, which encodes transcription factor activating enhancer-binding protein 2 beta. The second (rs7826222, chromosome 8p23.1: P = 1.2×10−8) resides near MSRA, encoding methionine sulfoxide reductase A, whilst the third (rs6429082, chromosome 1q42.3: P = 2.6×10−8) is located within the TBCE (tubulin folding cofactor E) gene region.
