In total, we identified eight independent loci for any MD measure (ZNF365, TAB2,HABP2, INHBB, AREG, LINC01483, MKL1, and 8p11.23) at P < 5 × 10− 8 (Additional file 1: Table S2), three of which were novel (HABP2, INHBB, and LINC01483) and the remaining five (ZNF365, TAB2, AREG, 8p11.23, and MKL1) of which were previously reported to be associated with MD [3, 5, 7, 27] in the same directions as observed in the present analysis. This evidence concerns the gene AREG and Menkes disease.