GWAS on longitudinal growth traits reveals different genetic factors influencing infant, child, and adult BMI
File(s)
Published version
Supporting information
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Early 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 modelling of longitudinal growth traits to study the genetics of infant and child growth, followed by functional, pathway, genetic correlation, risk score and co-localization 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 BMI, with variants associated with adult BMI acting as early as 4-6 years old. However, we demonstrated a completely distinct genetic makeup for peak BMI during infancy, influenced by variation at the LEPR/LEPROT 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.
Date Issued
2019-09-04
Date Acceptance
2019-08-06
Citation
Science Advances, 2019, 5 (9)
ISSN
2375-2548
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Journal / Book Title
Science Advances
Volume
5
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Grant Number
MR/L01341X/1
G0802782
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
BODY-MASS INDEX
GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION
BLOOD-PRESSURE
EARLY-LIFE
METABOLIC RISK
BIRTH COHORT
FTO GENE
ADIPOSITY
OBESITY
AGE
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
eaaw3095