The variance explained in an additive linear model by the 75 genome-wide significant loci identified in our GERA discovery cohort was 1.4%/1.2%/1.8% for SBP/DBP/PP in GERA non-Hispanic whites; note that the same individuals were used for discovery and testing, but with the independent ICBP estimated effect size. The results for the other GERA groups were: 2.0%/1.6/2.4% in Latinos, 0.9%/0.7%/1.4% in East Asians, 1.3%/0.6%/1.6% in African Americans, and 1.7%/1.7%/0.7% in South Asians. Including the remaining of the 85 previously-described SNPs not genome-wide significant in GERA and the 36 novel SNPs from the GERA and ICBP meta-analysis modestly increased variance explained (Table 3). All previously-described and novel loci explain 2.9%/2.5%/3.1% of SBP/DBP/PP variation in GERA non-Hispanic whites, with an estimated greater (but not significantly different) variance in Latinos (3.4%/2.6%/3.6%) and less in East Asians (2.4%/1.7%/2.6%) and African Americans (2.0%/1.3%/2.1%), who similarly have the lowest GRS; UKB results were generally slightly lower than GERA, e.g., 2.7%/2.5%/3.0% for UKB whites. Adding dominance terms to the linear regression model did not increase variance explained (none significant after multiple comparison correction).
