3354 Biomedical Informatics/Health Informatics A Preliminary Study of Glaucoma: The Intersection of Genetics and Survey Data from the Health and Retirement Study
Authors: Bailey Jessica Cooke , Kinzy Tyler G. , Schiltz Nicholas K. 
Published: March 2019

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide; in the United States alone, over 2.7 million individuals are affected. Various risk factors for glaucoma are known and include age, race/ethnicity, genetics, and ocular measures. Despite numerous studies, molecular and environmental factors that contribute to glaucoma remain elusive. Our objective was to conduct a genome-wide association for glaucoma among black and white HRS respondents, and to determine the feasibility for future analyses examining shared genetic markers between glaucoma and other comorbidities, behaviors, and environmental risk factors. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of Americans over the age of 50. Supported by the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration, the HRS is designed to provide reliable data on the decisions, choices, and behaviors of people as they age and respond to changes in public policy, the economy, and health. The study obtains information every two years about income and wealth, health and use of health services, work and retirement, and family connections. Through its unique and in-depth interviews, the HRS provides an invaluable and growing body of multidisciplinary data that researchers can use to address important questions about the challenges and opportunities of aging. Because of its innovation and importance, the HRS has become the model and hub for a growing network of harmonized longitudinal aging studies around the world. Saliva was collected on half of the HRS sample each wave starting in 2006 and respondents were genotyped on the Illumina Human Omni2.5-Quad (Omni2.5) BeadChip at the NIH Center for Inherited Disease Research. We accessed survey results to evaluate prevalence of glaucoma in this dataset and performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) adjusting for age, sex, and significant Principal Components and stratifying by self-reported race (White / Black). RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Of 8179 respondents passing quality filters, 6409 (78.40%) were white and 985 (12.05%) were black. Self-reported glaucoma prevalence was 7.85% and 16.34% in white and black respondents, respectively. White respondents had a mean age of 76.97 (SD 7.53) and were 57.25% female. Black respondents had a similar mean age of 74.96 (SD 7.27) and were 62.54% female. More than 87% of both groups were assessed in 2012. Preliminary GWAS analyses did not replicate known glaucoma loci and no variants attained genome-wide significance. A suggestive variant (p<1e-05) in the black population was within 10kb of a known locus, rs1196998. Future analyses will evaluate genetic association with combinations of glaucoma and comorbidities. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Glaucoma risk is higher in minority groups than in whites, and the majority of reported genetic studies of glaucoma have been performed in individuals of European descent. It is imperative to better understand the role of genetics, environment, and health behavior in glaucoma risk. Further, understanding common mechanisms underlying diseases that co-occur with glaucoma could illuminate novel disease mechanisms that can be targeted for early intervention and/or treatment.