Abstract
Although previous polygenic risk score (PRS) studies for cardiovascular disease (CVD) focused on incidence, few studies addressed CVD mortality and quantified risks by environmental exposures in different genetic liability groups. This prospective study aimed to examine the associations of blood pressure PRS with all-cause and CVD mortality and to quantify the attributable risk by modifiable lifestyles across different PRS strata. 9,296 participants in the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort Study without hypertension at baseline were analyzed in this analysis. PRS for systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (PRSSBP and PRSDBP) were developed using publicly available Biobank Japan GWAS summary statistics. CVD-related mortality was defined by the International Classification of Diseases 10th version (I00-I99). Cox-proportional hazard model was used to examine associations of PRSs and lifestyle variables (smoking, drinking, and dietary sodium intake) with mortality. During a median 12.6-year follow-up period, we observed 273 all-cause and 41 CVD mortality cases. Compared to the middle PRS group (20–80th percentile), adjusted hazard ratios for CVD mortality at the top PRS group ( > 90th percentile) were 3.67 for PRSSBP and 2.92 for PRSDBP. Attributable risks of CVD mortality by modifiable lifestyles were higher in the high PRS group ( > 80th percentile) compared with the low PRS group (0–80th percentile). In summary, blood pressure PRS is associated with CVD mortality in the general Japanese population. Our study implies that integrating PRS with lifestyle could contribute to identify target populations for lifestyle intervention even though improvement of discriminatory ability by PRS alone is limited.

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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all contributors of the J-MICC collaborators. The list of collaborators is shown at https://jmicc.com/en/contributors. The current committee members of J-MICC Study Group (As of 5th June 2023): Keitaro Matsuo (Principal investigator), Kenji Wakai, Nobuaki Michihata, Hiroto Narimatsu, Kiyonori Kuriki, Asahi Hishida, Hidemi Ito, Sadao Suzuki, Yoshikuni Kita, Katsuyuki Miura, Teruhide Koyama, Sakurako Katsuura-Kamano, Hiroaki Ikezaki, Keitaro Tanaka, Chihaya Koriyama. We thank Dr. J.M. Dijkstra, Office of Research Administration, Fujita Health University, for the English proofreading of our manuscript.
for the J-MICC Study Group
Keitaro Matsuo (Principal investigator)10,11, Kenji Wakai3, Nobuaki Michihata12, Hiroto Narimatsu19-22, Kiyonori Kuriki15, Asahi Hishida3, Hidemi Ito10,11, Sadao Suzuki14, Yoshikuni Kita16, Katsuyuki Miura6, Teruhide Koyama5, Sakurako Katsuura-Kamano17, Hiroaki Ikezaki7,8, Keitaro Tanaka9, and Chihaya Koriyama13.
Funding
This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research for Priority Areas of Cancer [No: 17015018] and Innovative Areas [No: 221S0001] and by JSPS KAKENHI Grants [Nos: 16H06277, 22H04923, and 20K18943] from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. This study was supported in part by funding for the BioBank Japan Project from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and development since April 2015, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from April 2003 to March 2015.
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Fujii, R., Hishida, A., Nakatochi, M. et al. Polygenic risk score for blood pressure and lifestyle factors with overall and CVD mortality: a prospective cohort study in a Japanese population. Hypertens Res 47, 2284–2294 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-024-01766-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-024-01766-9
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