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Santhi Ganesh and colleagues report meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies of six erythrocyte traits within the CHARGE consortium, with replication in cohorts of the HaemGen consortium. They report 23 loci associated with a range of clinically relevant red blood cell traits.

Nathan Pankratz, Santhi Ganesh and colleagues use exome chip data to identify rare and common variants influencing blood cell traits. They report associations at several loci, including a rare missense variant in S1PR4 associated with circulating neutrophil counts, and present functional studies supporting a role for S1PR4 in neutrophil recruitment and resolution in response to tissue injury.

Fibromuscular dysplasia is a cardiovascular disease affecting mostly women with a mostly unknown genetic basis. Here the authors have performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis of Fibromuscular dysplasia to identify genetic loci, some of which are shared with common cardiovascular disease and traits.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis of AAA identifies 121 independent risk loci and highlights potential therapeutic targets such as proprotein convertase, subtilisin/kexin-type 9 (PCSK9).

Genome-wide association meta-analyses identify more than 350 loci associated with atrial fibrillation. A polygenic score derived from these results improves atrial fibrillation risk prediction compared to published clinical and polygenic scores.

Sex-stratified genome-wide association studies identify loci showing sex-specific effects on blood pressure, allowing for the development of sex-specific polygenic risk scores for blood pressure traits.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a cause of myocardial infarction Here, the authors present a genome-wide association study of SCAD, finding an association at 1q21.2 which potentially affects expression of ADAMTSL4.

Enhancer variants associated with red blood cell traits alter signaling transcription factor motifs, leading to changes in expression of genes that are upregulated during erythroid differentiation.

Genome-wide association analyses identify risk loci for spontaneous coronary artery dissection and implicate arterial integrity and tissue-mediated coagulation in the disease etiology. Several risk variants show opposite effects on coronary artery disease risk.

Patricia Munroe, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Andrew Morris and colleagues perform association studies in over 340,000 individuals of European ancestry and identify 66 loci, of which 17 are novel, involved in blood pressure regulation. The risk SNPs are enriched for cis-regulatory elements, particularly in vascular endothelial cells.

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common human congenital cardiovascular malformation. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide association study for BAV and identify risk variants in the gene region of cardiac-specific transcription factor GATA4 and implicate GATA4 in heart valve development.

Daniel Levy and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for blood pressure traits as part of the CHARGE consortium, reporting eight loci with replicated association to systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure, with one of these loci also associated to hypertension.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in more than 66,000 individuals identifies 68 new genomic loci that reliably associate with platelet count and volume, and reveals new gene functions.

An important risk factor for coronary artery disease is the level of blood lipids. Here the authors conduct an exome-wide association study in Chinese cohorts and identify three novel loci associated with lipid levels as well as three Asian-specific variants in known loci.

Daniel Chasman, Daniel Levy, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Georg Ehret and colleagues perform an association meta-analysis for blood pressure in ∼330,000 individuals and identify 31 new risk loci, implicating biological pathways related to vascular function and cardiometabolic traits. Their findings highlight potential therapeutic strategies for hypertension, emphasizing a link with cardiometabolic risk.

A meta-analysis of exome-wide association studies for blood lipid levels in East Asian populations identifies a novel coding variant. Exome array data from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium were integrated and led to the discovery of novel and population-specific variants associated with cholesterol and triglycerides.

Cristen Willer, Kristian Hveem and colleagues use an exome array to identify a coding variant in TM6SF2 that is associated with total cholesterol levels. They further show that transient overexpression of TM6SF2 or knockdown of Tm6sf2 in mice alters serum lipid profiles, implicating TM6SF2 as a causal regulator of lipid traits.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Paul Elliott, Martin Tobin, Cornelia van Duijn and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure, identifying six new loci influencing these two traits.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses for birth weight in 153,781 individuals identified 60 genomic loci in which birth weight and fetal genotype were associated and found an inverse genetic correlation between birth weight and cardiometabolic risk.

Exome-wide genetic analysis on >300,000 individuals identifies associations with plasma lipid traits. Loci significantly associated with cholesterol and triglycerides are examined together to determine the effects of alleles on type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease risk.