Second, we performed pathway analysis,
which identified a number of overlapping pathways
linking height-associated SNPs that could
also have an effect on the risk of CAD, including
the BMP- and TGF-β–signaling pathways, axonguidance
pathways, and the STAT3 and IGF-I
pathways, all of which have experimentally
documented roles in the development of atherosclerosis.21-26
The limitations of pathway analysis
included the need to assign a specific gene
for each height-associated locus and incomplete
knowledge regarding how such pathways are