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GWAS on longitudinal growth traits reveals different genetic factors influencing infant, child, and adult BMI

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Couto Alves, Alexessander 
De Silva, N Maneka G 
Karhunen, Ville 
Das, Shikta 

Abstract

jats:pEarly childhood growth patterns are associated with adult health, yet the genetic factors and the developmental stages involved are not fully understood. Here, we combine genome-wide association studies with modeling of longitudinal growth traits to study the genetics of infant and child growth, followed by functional, pathway, genetic correlation, risk score, and colocalization analyses to determine how developmental timings, molecular pathways, and genetic determinants of these traits overlap with those of adult health. We found a robust overlap between the genetics of child and adult body mass index (BMI), with variants associated with adult BMI acting as early as 4 to 6 years old. However, we demonstrated a completely distinct genetic makeup for peak BMI during infancy, influenced by variation at the jats:italicLEPR/LEPROT</jats:italic> locus. These findings suggest that different genetic factors control infant and child BMI. In light of the obesity epidemic, these findings are important to inform the timing and targets of prevention strategies.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing, Adult, Body Mass Index, Child, Female, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genomics, Growth Charts, Humans, Infant, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Pharmacogenomic Variants, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci, Quantitative Trait, Heritable, Receptors, Leptin

Journal Title

Science Advances

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2375-2548
2375-2548

Volume Title

5

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/2)
Wellcome Trust (082893/Z/07/Z)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) Societal Challenges (824989)
Includes MRC, Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation, H202 and FP7.