Red blood cell distribution width: Genetic evidence for aging pathways in 116,666 volunteers.
Luke C PillingJanice C AtkinsMichael O DuffRobin N BeaumontSamuel E JonesJessica TyrrellChia-Ling KuoKatherine S RuthMarcus A TukeHanieh YaghootkarAndrew R WoodAnna MurrayMichael N WeedonLorna W HarriesGeorge A KuchelLuigi FerrucciTimothy M FraylingDavid MelzerPublished in: PloS one (2017)
Although increased RDW is predictive of cardiovascular outcomes, this was not explained by known CVD or related lipid genetic risks, and a RDW genetic score was not predictive of incident disease. The predictive value of RDW for a range of negative health outcomes may in part be due to variants influencing fundamental pathways of aging.