A meta-analysis identifies new loci associated with body mass index in individuals of African ancestry.

Manhattan plot displaying results of the BMI association meta-analysis in the Stage 1 studies. Colored genomic loci indicate novel associations (red) and those detected previously (blue).

Regional plots of three novel genome-wide significant loci identified in men and women of African ancestry. (a) rs7708584 (GALNT10 region), (b) rs974417 (KLHL32 region), and (c) rs10261878 (MIR148A/NFE2L3 region). For 2a and b, Stage 1 p-value represented by purple circle and Stage 1+2+3 p-value represented by purple square; for 2c, Stage 1 p-value represented by purple circle, African ancestry Stage 1+2+3 p-value represented by purple diamond, and African ancestry + GIANT p-value represented by purple square. SNPs are plotted by their position 500kb on either side of the index SNP on the chromosome against their association (−log10 P) with BMI using the Stage 1 data. SNPs surrounding the top SNPs are colored to indicate the local LD structure using pairwise r2 data from the May 2012 AFR panel of the 1000 genomes.

Effect estimates (95% CI) per BMI-increasing allele for the 3 novel loci discovered in individuals of African ancestry (1st section, in descending order of African effect size), the 32 loci discovered in individuals of European ancestry (2nd section, in descending order of European effect size), and the 4 loci discovered in individuals of Asian ancestry (3rd section, in descending order of Asian effect size). Results for individuals of African ancestry depicted by red dots (Stage 1+2+3 for novel loci, Stage 1 for previously-discovered loci); results for individuals of European ancestry depicted by black squares from Speliotes EK et al, 20107; and results for individuals of Asian ancestry depicted by green triangles from Okada Y et al, 20129 and Wen W et al, 201210.