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Heritability of liver enzyme levels estimated from genome-wide SNP data.
- Source :
- European Journal of Human Genetics; Sep2015, Vol. 23 Issue 9, p1223-1228, 6p
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Variation in the liver enzyme levels in humans is moderately heritable, as indicated by twin-family studies. At present, genome-wide association studies have traced <2% of the variance back to genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We estimated the SNP-based heritability of levels of three liver enzymes (gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT); alanine aminotransferase (ALT); and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)) using genome-wide SNP data in a sample of 5421 unrelated Dutch individuals. Two estimation methods for SNP-based heritability were compared, one based on the distant genetic relatedness among all subjects as summarized in a Genetic Relatedness Matrix (GRM), and the other one based on density estimation (DE). The DE method was also applied to meta-analysis results on GGT and ALT. GRM-derived SNP-based heritability estimates were significant for GGT (16%) and AST (11%), but not for ALT (6%). DE estimates in the same sample varied as a function of pruning and were around 23% for all liver enzymes. Application of the DE approach to meta-analysis results for GGT and ALT gave SNP-based heritability estimates of 6 and 3%. The significant results in the Dutch sample indicate that genome-wide SNP platforms contain substantial information regarding the underlying genetic variation in the liver enzyme levels. A major part of this genetic variation remains however undetected. SNP-based heritability estimates, based on meta-analysis results, may point at substantial heterogeneity among cohorts contributing to the meta-analysis. This type of analysis may provide useful information to guide future gene searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10184813
- Volume :
- 23
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- European Journal of Human Genetics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 108864746
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2014.259