The 1598 SNPs characterized in the GWAS catalog [10] as showing association with complex traits included 625 that would be classified as eQTLs with a p-value threshold of 10−4 using CEPH (Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain) samples of European descent from Utah (CEU) or 972 using the combined sample of the CEU plus the Yoruban samples from Ibadan Nigeria (YRI) data to define eQTLs, 46 (83 for the combined CEU+YRI) that would be classified as eQTLs with a p-value threshold of 10−6 and 17 (18 for the combined CEU+YRI) that would be classified as eQTLs with a p-value threshold of 10−8. As summarized in Figure 1, we observed significantly more eQTLs among these 1598 trait-associated SNPs than expected given their minor allele frequency (MAF) distribution. Given that many gene transcript levels show substantial correlations, it is, perhaps, not surprising that we also observed that SNPs associated with many transcripts (sometimes called eQTL hot spots or master regulators) were also enriched among trait-associated SNPs. Using a more stringent definition for defining trait-associated SNPs (up to 10−8) reduced their absolute numbers of such SNPs, but increased the significance of the observed enrichment of eQTLs among trait-associated SNPs.
