27Varicose veins of lower extremities (VVs) are a common multifactorial vascular disease. 28Genetic factors underlying VVs development remain largely unknown. Here we report the first 29 large-scale study of VVs performed on a freely available genetic data of 408,455 European-30 ancestry individuals. We identified 7 reliably associated loci that explain 10% of the SNP-based 31 heritability, and prioritized the most likely causal genes CASZ1, PPP3R1, EBF1, STIM2, and 32 HFE. Genetic correlation analysis confirmed known epidemiological associations and found 33 genetic overlap with various traits including fluid intelligence score, educational attainment, 34 smoking, and pain. Finally, we observed causal effects of height, weight, both fat and fat-free 35 mass, and plasma levels of MICB and CD209 proteins. 36All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.(which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.The copyright holder for this preprint . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/368365 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jul. 13, 2018; 3 Varicose veins (VVs) are one of the clinical manifestations of chronic venous disease 37 posing both a cosmetic and medical problem. VVs can be found in different parts of the body, 38 but most commonly occur in the lower extremities. Prevalence estimates of this condition vary 39 across ethnic groups ranging from 2-4% in the Northern group of the Cook Islands to 50-60% in 40 some countries of the Western world 1 The cumulative evidence from epidemiological, family, and genetic association studies 52 strongly indicates that there is a hereditary component in VVs etiology [6][7][8] . However, despite 53 progress in this field [9][10][11][12] , current knowledge of the genetic basis of this pathology is far from 54 being complete. Elucidating genes involved in susceptibility to VVs would help to identify key 55 molecular players in the disease initiation, provide deeper insights into its pathogenesis, and 56 eventually contribute to development of improved targeted therapy aimed at VVs treating and 57
preventing. 58Large-scale biobanks linked to electronic health records open up unparalleled opportunities 59 to investigate the genetics of complex traits. Today, UK Biobank is the largest repository that 60 contains information on genotypes and phenotypes for half a million participating individuals 13 . 61This resource is open to all bona fide researchers, and access to data is provided upon approval 62All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.(which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.The copyright holder for this preprint . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/368365 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jul. 13, 2018; 4 of their application and payment of necessary costs. However, the need to incur high costs 63 related to data access and computation can be an insurmountable obstacle for those...