WHI Long Life Study Phase III GWAS Data

**Introduction/Intent**

7,875 WHI Extension II Study participants participated in the WHI Long Life Study (LLS). The LLS consisted of a one-time in-person visit (conducted between March 2012 and May 2013) with a blood draw, a brief clinical assessment, and an assessment of functional status.

**Primary aims of the blood collection:**

- Establish a repository of new baseline biospecimen on this cohort - Replenish the WHI biospecimen resource for members of this cohort with a new source of good quality extracted DNA and RNA, plasma, serum, and RBCs for future standard clinical laboratory assays as well as cytokines, proteomics, metabolomics, and other assays that have yet to be imagined - Obtain CBC and metabolic/CVD biomarker data <ol> <li>**CVD biomarkers:** glucose, insulin, creatinine, CRP, HDL, LDL, triglyceride, cholesterol - **CBC:** A total of 26 variables were reported, including hematocrit, hemoglobin, WBC/RBC/platelet counts, WBC differential (automated), numerous indices </li> </ol>

**Materials/Methods**

The LLS appointment protocol included a blood draw (~31 ml): 8.5ml EDTA Plasma Separator Tube (PST; catalog # BD362799), 2ml EDTA (catalog # BD367841), 10ml EDTA (catalog # BD366443), 8.5ml Serum Separator Tube (SST; catalog # BD367988), PAXgene (catalog # BD762165)

The PPT and SST were centrifuged by data collectors near the data collection site within two hours of the blood draw. All blood vials and corresponding data forms were shipped via FedEx priority overnight to arrive at the FHCRC Specimen Processing Lab (SPL) the next day. SPL processed the blood vials according to the [[LLS Blood Collection Protocol](https://www.whi.org/about/Long Life Study Materials/Blood Protocol Synopsis 012512.pdf).]. Aliquots were frozen and shipped to the WHI Biorepository (Fisher Bioservices, Rockville, MD) for long term storage at -80 &#176;C.

One of the serum aliquots for each participant was sent from the WHI Biorepository to the [University of Minnesota Fairview ARDL Lab](http://www.med.umn.edu/ardl/) for CVD biomarker testing within approximately 6-12 months of the draw date.

The 2ml EDTA vial was delivered to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) hematology lab soon after receipt at SPL. The SCCA performed the CBC upon receipt.

**Results**

Of the 7,875 LLS participants, 7,325 (93%) have CVD biomarkers available (glucose, insulin, creatinine, CRP, HDL, LDL, triglyceride, cholesterol) and 7,406 (94%) have CBC data.

The WHI Lab Working Group (LWG) reviewed the blind duplicate data for the CVD Biomarkers and a comparison of the WHI clinic CBC data to the W64 CBC data. Both datasets were approved for release to the WHI investigator&#39;s dataset. The data is available [[Here](https://www.whi.org/researchers/data/Pages/Available Data.aspx)] for approved users.