A genome-wide search for genetic influences and biological pathways related to the brain's white matter integrity

A genome-wide search for genetic variants influencing the brain's white matter integrity in old age was conducted in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936). At ∼73 years of age, members of the LBC1936 underwent diffusion MRI, from which 12 white matter tracts were segmented using quantitative tractography, and tract-averaged water diffusion parameters were determined (n = 668). A global measure of white matter tract integrity, gFA, derived from principal components analysis of tract-averaged fractional anisotropy measurements, accounted for 38.6% of the individual differences across the 12 white matter tracts. A genome-wide search was performed with gFA on 535 individuals with 542,050 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). No single SNP association was genome-wide significant (all p > 5 × 10−8). There was genome-wide suggestive evidence for two SNPs, one in ADAMTS18 (p = 1.65 × 10−6), which is related to tumor suppression and hemostasis, and another in LOC388630 (p = 5.08 × 10−6), which is of unknown function. Although no gene passed correction for multiple comparisons in single gene-based testing, biological pathways analysis suggested evidence for an over-representation of neuronal transmission and cell adhesion pathways relating to gFA.