The proportion of variance explained in CRP by a weighted score of known variants in ALSPAC (5.1%) was similar to that reported in the CRP meta-analysis by Dehghan et al. (2011) who also estimate that a weighted score of confirmed variants explained around 5% of the phenotypic variance in CRP [14]. Teslovich et al. (2010) report that a weighted score of genome-wide significant LDLc associated variants explained 12.2% of the phenotypic variance in LDLc [3]. The lower figure in ALSPAC (6.6%) is probably due to a combination of factors including the ALSPAC analysis not being performed on fasting bloods, the ALSPAC analysis not including secondary loci in the calculation of variance explained by known variants, and the possibility that true differences exist in the size and identity of genetic variants that affect LDLc levels in adults and children. Speliotes et al. (2010) reported that a weighted score of all known BMI associated loci explained 1.45% of the variance in BMI [13]. The proportion of variance explained in the ALSPAC cohort was higher, at 3.2% for the known variants. It is
