No abstract

Forced vital capacity (FVC), a spirometric measure of pulmonary function, reflects lung volume and is used to diagnose and monitor lung diseases. We performed genome-wide association study meta-analysis of FVC in 52,253 individuals from 26 studies and followed up the top associations in 32,917 additional individuals of European ancestry. We found six new regions associated at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10−8) with FVC in or near EFEMP1, BMP6, MIR-129-2/HSD17B12, PRDM11, WWOX, and KCNJ2. Two (GSTCD and PTCH1) loci previously associated with spirometric measures were related to FVC. Newly implicated regions were followed-up in samples of African American, Korean, Chinese, and Hispanic individuals. We detected transcripts for all six newly implicated genes in human lung tissue. The new loci may inform mechanisms involved in lung development and pathogenesis of restrictive lung disease.

The objectives of this study were to test the hypothesis that diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), diabetes control and diabetes duration, and metabolic biomarkers in adults with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) are inversely associated with spirometry-measured lung function. We conducted a cross-sectional observational cohort study that included nonsmoking African American adults (n = 2,945; mean age = 52.5 ± 12.6 years; 69.2% female), who were free of cardiovascular disease, from the Jackson Heart Study. The interventions were diabetes, metabolic biomarkers and lung function. We measured the associations of glycemia with forced expiratory volume (FEV) in 1 s, FEV in 6 s, and vital capacity. Multivariable adjusted mean lung function values were lower among adults with diabetes and IGT (in women only, but not after adjustment for waist circumference) than adults with NGT. Among adults with diabetes, no associations were observed between lung function and diabetes control or duration. In women with NGT, lower lung function was consistently associated with higher glucose levels and less consistently with higher insulin levels and insulin resistance. Lower lung function was consistently associated with higher insulin levels and insulin resistance and less consistently associated with insulin and hemoglobin A1c in men with NGT. Overall, our findings generally support the hypothesis that diabetes, IGT, and increased levels of metabolic biomarkers in individuals with NGT are inversely associated with lung function in African Americans, independent of adiposity.