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Genome wide association study of a Circadian Imbalance Index in 312,935 European ancestry UK Biobank participants identifies loci related to diabetes, mood and myocardial infarction.

Magdalena Żebrowska, Matthias Wielscher, Jing Zhang, Ingvild Saksvik-Lehouillier, Lee DiMilia et al.
Other Research square 2025
PubMed DOI CC-BY PDF
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Study Design

Type d'étude
genome-wide association study
Taille de l'échantillon
312935
Intervention
Genome wide association study of a Circadian Imbalance Index in 312,935 European ancestry UK Biobank participants identifies loci related to diabetes, mood and myocardial infarction. None
Comparateur
Placebo
Direction de l'effet
Mixed
Risque de biais
Low

Abstract

The Circadian Imbalance Index (CII) integrates chronotype, sleep duration, neuroticism, caffeine intake, and vitamin D. In a genome wide association study (GWAS) of CII in 312,935 European ancestry UK Biobank participants, we identified 27 loci mapping to 72 genes, including circadian regulators CALCA, DHCR7, KDM5A, HAL, and CRX. Gene-overlap analyses demonstrated shared architecture with CII components, while EPHB1, SERPING1, C12orf74, PLEKHG7, and EEA1 were uniquely associated with CII. A CII polygenic score (CII-PRS) showed phenome-wide associations with type 2 diabetes (T2D), major depressive disorder, and obesity. Genetic correlations linked CII with insomnia, mood symptoms, body mass index (BMI), T2D, coronary artery disease (CAD), and myocardial infarction (MI). Mendelian randomization suggested causal effects of CII on T2D, mood swings, and MI, and reverse effects of CAD, mood, and MI on CII. This work shows that circadian imbalance is a polygenic trait connecting sleep-related biology to metabolic, cardiovascular and mood health outcomes.

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Tables

Table 1

CII value
012345Total
N (%) 29,538 (9.4)87,028 (27.8)103,761 (33.2)65,257 (20.9)23,254 (7.4)4,097 (1.3)312,935
Age * 58.1 ± 7.857.2 ± 8.056.5 ± 8.055.8 ± 8.155.2 ± 8.154.2 ± 8.156.6 ± 8.1
Male, N (%) 15,810 (53.5)43,253 (49.7)48,700 (46.9)29,271 (44.9)9,781 (42.1)1,658 (40.5)148,473 (47.4)
BMI * 26.4 ± 3.926.9 ± 4.327.4 ± 4.727.9 ± 5.128.5 ± 5.529.2 ± 5.927.4 ± 4.7
Average total household income before tax, N (%) Less than £18,000 4,325 (14.7)13,504 (15.5)18,301 (17.7)13,593 (20.9)5,979 (25.8)1,354 (33.3)5,7056 (18.3)
£18,000 to £31,000 6,602 (22.4)19,224 (22.1)22,747 (22.0)14,478 (22.3)5,065 (21.9)861 (21.2)68,977 (22.1)
£31,000 to £52,000 7,213 (24.4)21,001 (24.2)24,690 (23.8)15,105 (23.2)5,020 (21.7)774 (19.0)73,803 (23.6)
£52,000 to £100,000 6,066 (20.6)17,882 (20.6)20,307 (19.6)11,522 (17.7)3,446 (14.9)487 (12.0)59,710 (19.1)
Greater than £100,000 1,952 (6.6)5,221 (6.0)5,458 (5.3)2631 (4.0)750(3.2)87(2.1)16,099 (5.2)
Unknown 3,352 (11.4)10,070 (11.6)12,040 (11.6)7,730 (11.9)2,879 (12.4)504 (12.4)36,575 (11.7)
Education, N (%) College or University degree 10,544 (35.7)30,398 (34.9)34,399 (33.2)19,617 (30.1)6,266 (26.9)980 (23.9)102,204 (32.7)
Other 14,788 (50.1)43,294 (49.7)52,267 (50.4)33,678 (51.6)12,073 (51.9)2,168 (52.9)158,268 (50.6)
Unknown 4,206 (14.2)13,336 (15.3)17,095 (16.5)11,962 (18.3)4,915 (21.1)949 (23.2)52,463 (16.8)
Shift workers, N (% (a) ) 2,020 (13.0)6,938 (13.8)9,628 (15.4)7,009 (17.8)2,821 (21.0)560 (26.3)28,976 (9.3)
CII components
Evening PersonShort Or Long SleepHigh NeuroticismNo Or High CaffeineLow Vit DTotal
N (%) 105,673 (33.8)96,903 (31.0)74,742 (23.9)161,085 (51.5)165,419 (52.9)312,935
Age * 55.7 ± 8.357.1 ± 7.955.3 ± 8.056.2 ± 8.156.0 ± 8.156.6 ± 8.1
Male, N (%) 49,943 (47.3)46,105 (47.6)28,978 (38.8)72,382 (44.9)78,472 (47.4)148,473 (47.4)
BMI * 27.6 ± 4.828.0 ±5.127.4 ±5.127.5 ± 4.928.0 ± 5.127.4 (4.7)
Average total household income before tax, N (%) Less than £18,000 19,374 (18.4)22,205 (23.0)16,942 (22.7)31,267 (19.5)31,783 (19.3)57,056 (18.3)
£18,000 to £31,000 23,142 (22.0)21,574 (22.3)16,478 (22.1)35,864 (22.3)35,659 (21.6)68,977 (22.1)
£31,000 to £52,000 25,258 (24.0)20,912 (21.7)16,888 (22.7)37,342 (23.2)39,246 (23.8)73,803 (23.6)
£52,000 to £100,000 20,642 (19.6)15,169 (15.7)12,375 (16.6)29,217 (18.2)31,878 (19.3)59,710 (19.1)
CII value
012345Total
Greater than £100,000 5,507 (5.2)3,945 (4.1)2,631 (3.5)7,147 (4.4)8,235 (5.0)16,099 (5.2)
Unknown 11,505 (10.9)12,746 (13.2)9,170 (12.3)19,818 (12.3)18,137 (11.0)36,575 (11.7)
Education, N (%) College or University degree 35,511 (33.6)26,268 (27.1)21,327 (28.5)47,558 (29.5)57,347 (34.7)102,204 (32.7)
Other 54,562 (51.6)49,737 (51.3)38,740 (51.8)83,752 (52.0)81,203 (49.1)158,268 (50.6)
Unknown 15,600 (14.8)20,898 (21.6)14,675 (19.6)29,775 (18.5)26,869 (16.2)52,463 (16.8)
Shift workers, N (%(a))11,082 (17.4)10,515 (19.9)7,504 (17.3)15,835 (16.6)16,369 (16.0)28,976 (9.3)

Table 2

Genomic LocusVariantChromosome: positionNearest geneEffect alleleEffect size (P)Standard errorP-value
7rs342656624:72617557GCTA0,07930,00311,49E-147
11rs11791312411:14900931CYP2R1A0,21920,00851,01E-146
14rs379406011:71187679NADSYN1T−0,04340,00345,05E-37
109:140259068_T_TA9:140259068EXD3TA0,03010,00431,57E-12
9rs731989708:11040216XKR6C0,01870,00283,47E-11
1211:57522200_CCCCT_C11:57522200TMX2-CTNND1:RP11-691N7.6:CTNND1C0,01960,00306,42E-11
22rs56797983713:60753105RNY4P28CT−0,01850,00287,51E-11
25rs155734118:35127427CELF4C−0,01930,00309,28E-11
5rs76528083:85603643CADM2G0,01850,00292,12E-10
21rs1085999512:96375682HALC0,01780,00283,08E-10
27rs254724419:48363039TPRX2PG0,02310,00374,92E-10
17rs648736512:24066460SOX5A0,01830,00309,12E-10
26rs212678618:53447005RP11-397A16.1:RP11-397A16.2C0,02250,00371,01E-09
1912:39098718_GT_G12:39098718CPNE8G0,01710,00281,55E-09
16rs1084864412:365289SLC6A13:RP11-283I3.4T−0,01670,00282,81E-09
1rs618167611:152285861FLG-AS1:FLGA−0,05740,00973,80E-09
8rs29792418:8303353CTA-398F10.2C−0,01620,00287,34E-09
3rs115631792:51693002AC007682.1C0,02220,00399,43E-09
2rs22796811:201861016SHISA4G−0,01680,00291,02E-08
20rs13992391912:93222395EEA1CAT−0,01760,00311,04E-08
13rs50953311:66070575TMEM151AC0,01590,00281,68E-08
23rs1666114:75128316AREL1C0,01650,00302,74E-08
18rs966876012:34611172RP13-7D7.1G−0,01570,00282,98E-08
24rs6200729915:77711719PEAK1A0,01690,00313,55E-08
4rs76253843:18774357:G:TAC144521.1T0,01700,00313,89E-08
6rs40822443:134729537:C:GEPHB1G−0,01600,00294,79E-08
15rs1075053911:133548873:A:GRP11-448P19.1A0,01600,00294,81E-08

Table 3

EnsgSymbolChrStrandMsigDB LabelPLIMin GWAS pInd Sig SnpsGL
ENSG00000110680CALCA11−1WP CLOCKCONTROLLED AUTOPHAGY IN BONE METABOLISM(a)0.00144.8730e-2511:14992795_AGGAGCCCACAGACCTT_A; rs6187867511
ENSG00000172893DHCR711−1UEDA PERIFERAL CLOCK(b)5.0427e-086.1235e-37rs12793607, rs1540129, rs3794060, rs1790349, rs369124946, 11:71203933_AT_A, rs181766110, rs139168803, rs35708376, rs76016557614
ENSG00000073614KDM5A12−1WP CIRCADIAN RHYTHM GENES(c)0.999996.1331e-07rs1084864416
ENSG00000084110HAL12−1UEDA PERIFERAL CLOCK(b)5.9087e-173.0841e-10rs1085999521
ENSG00000105392CRX191WP CIRCADIAN RHYTHM GENES(c)0.62374.7685e-08rs254724427

Table 4

GWAS overallGWAS in women
EnsgGLSymbolChrPLIInd Sig SnpsInd Sig SNP pβseInd Sig SNP pβse
ENSG000001549286EPHB1(a), (b)39.98E-01rs40822444.79E-08−0.01600.00291.47E-07−0.03030.0058
ENSG0000014913112SERPING1(a), (b), (d)119.73E-01rs16473962.46E-070.01530.0028---
ENSG0000021421520C12orf74(a), (b)125.22E-04rs1399239191.04E-08−0.01760.00315.13E-060.01780.0039
ENSG0000018751020PLEKHG7(a), (b)123.68E-11rs139923919
ENSG0000010218920EEA1(a), (c)126.97E-01rs139923919

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