Genome-Wide Association Study of Varenicline-Aided Smoking Cessation
Leveraging electronic health records, we undertook the largest genetic study of varenicline-aided smoking cessation to date, and the only such study to test genome-wide associations. We showed distinct genetic variants associated (p-value < 5 × 10-6) with varenicline-aided smoking cessation which implicate diverse cellular functions, including transcriptional regulation, RNA modification, and cilium assembly. These provide insights which, if independently corroborated, will improve understanding of varenicline response. The growing availability of biobank resources with genetic and varenicline response data will provide future opportunities for larger studies using the approach we developed.
Authors
- Richard Packer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2459-1020)
- Catherine John (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6057-2073)
- Tōnu Esko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1982-6569)
- Erik Abner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6529-3161)
- Qingning Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9352-2219)
- Craig Hyde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6939-287X)
- Nicola Reeve (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9602-6675)
- David Shepherd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8364-3041)
- Kadri Reis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2144-5856)
- Martin D. Tobin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3596-7874)
- Khaled Bedair (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7959-8110)
- Sundararajan Srinivasan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3387-9889)
- Robert C. Free (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8053-435X)
- Kayesha Coley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4951-6799)
- Chiara Batini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7140-2985)
- Sara A. Paciga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2495-5982)
- Ewan R. Pearson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9237-8585)
- Anders Mälarstig
Institutions
- Broad Institute (US)
- University of Leicester (GB)
- University of Dundee (GB)
- Pfizer (United States) (US)
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (GB)
- Ninewells Hospital (GB)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Pfizer (Sweden) (SE)
- PharmacoGenetics (China) (CN)
- University of Tartu (EE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nicotine & Tobacco Research
- Published
- 2025-01-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntaf009
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.16
Funders
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Wellcome Trust
- UK Research and Innovation
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Department of Health and Social Care
- University of Leicester
- European Commission
- Eesti Teadusagentuur
- Tartu Ülikool
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Medical Research Council
- European Regional Development Fund
- NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre