Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH8
K. Adamo, F. Tesson
The metabolic syndrome, which has been shown to affect as many as 20% of the general adult US population, is generally described as a cluster of cardiovascular risks factors, most notably obesity, type 2 diabetes or resistance to insulin-stimulated glucose uptake (insulin resistance), dyslipidaemia and hypertension. All these risk factors are under both genetic and environmental control; they are considered individually as complex genetic diseases. Prior to pharmacological interventions for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia, lifestyle changes, in particular weight loss (or weight maintenance) and physical activity, were prioritized and constituted an effective first-line intervention strategy. Here we want to focus on three clinical components of the metabolic syndrome and the environmental factors that are considered to be the most significant targets for primary interventions: type 2 diabetes and exercise, obesity and diet, and hypertension and salt. Our experimental approach is to go from candidate gene strategy to genome-wide association. The identification of the genetic component of these risk factors is a major challenge, and it is hoped that this would help unravel mechanistic pathways that can ultimately serve as new targets for therapeutic intervention.
{"title":"Gene-environment interaction and the metabolic syndrome.","authors":"K. Adamo, F. Tesson","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH8","url":null,"abstract":"The metabolic syndrome, which has been shown to affect as many as 20% of the general adult US population, is generally described as a cluster of cardiovascular risks factors, most notably obesity, type 2 diabetes or resistance to insulin-stimulated glucose uptake (insulin resistance), dyslipidaemia and hypertension. All these risk factors are under both genetic and environmental control; they are considered individually as complex genetic diseases. Prior to pharmacological interventions for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia, lifestyle changes, in particular weight loss (or weight maintenance) and physical activity, were prioritized and constituted an effective first-line intervention strategy. Here we want to focus on three clinical components of the metabolic syndrome and the environmental factors that are considered to be the most significant targets for primary interventions: type 2 diabetes and exercise, obesity and diet, and hypertension and salt. Our experimental approach is to go from candidate gene strategy to genome-wide association. The identification of the genetic component of these risk factors is a major challenge, and it is hoped that this would help unravel mechanistic pathways that can ultimately serve as new targets for therapeutic intervention.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"25 9","pages":"103-19; discussion 119-27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH15
F. Martinez
Genetic studies of asthma have been plagued by a remarkable difficulty in constantly replicating results in different populations for most of the polymorphisms studied. This was true even when the quality of the study design and statistical power were not an issue. The most plausible explanation for these inconsistent results is that genetic polymorphisms, in most cases, do not directly influence risk for asthma but instead modulate the effect of environmental exposures on the inception and clinical expression of asthma and allergies. A better understanding of the genetics of asthma is thus inseparable from a better understanding of the mechanisms by which environmental factors increase the risk for asthma or protect against it.
{"title":"Gene-environment interaction in complex diseases: asthma as an illustrative case.","authors":"F. Martinez","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH15","url":null,"abstract":"Genetic studies of asthma have been plagued by a remarkable difficulty in constantly replicating results in different populations for most of the polymorphisms studied. This was true even when the quality of the study design and statistical power were not an issue. The most plausible explanation for these inconsistent results is that genetic polymorphisms, in most cases, do not directly influence risk for asthma but instead modulate the effect of environmental exposures on the inception and clinical expression of asthma and allergies. A better understanding of the genetics of asthma is thus inseparable from a better understanding of the mechanisms by which environmental factors increase the risk for asthma or protect against it.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"6 4","pages":"184-92; discussion 192-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH1
M. Rutter
Discussion Appendix General discussion I Role of gene-stress interactions in gene-finding studies Discussion Practice and public policy in the era of gene-environment interactions Discussion Gene-environment interaction and the metabolic syndrome Discussion General discussion II Longitudinal studies of gene-environment interaction in common diseases-good value for money? Discussion Gene-environment interactions in breast cancer Discussion Unbiased forward genetics and systems biology approaches to understanding how gene-environment interactions work to predict susceptibility and outcomes of infections
{"title":"Introduction: whither gene-environment interactions?","authors":"M. Rutter","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH1","url":null,"abstract":"Discussion Appendix General discussion I Role of gene-stress interactions in gene-finding studies Discussion Practice and public policy in the era of gene-environment interactions Discussion Gene-environment interaction and the metabolic syndrome Discussion General discussion II Longitudinal studies of gene-environment interaction in common diseases-good value for money? Discussion Gene-environment interactions in breast cancer Discussion Unbiased forward genetics and systems biology approaches to understanding how gene-environment interactions work to predict susceptibility and outcomes of infections","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"27 10","pages":"1-12; discussion 68-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50673831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH4
N. Wray, W. Coventry, M. James, G. Montgomery, L. Eaves, N. Martin
We examine the interaction between stressful life events (SLE) and genotypes for the length polymorphism of the serotonin receptor gene (5HTTLPR) on risk of depression. We hypothesize that if the interaction is real, monozygotic twin pairs (MZT) homozygous for the short allele (SS) will have a greater within pair variance in depression measures than MZT homozygous for the long allele (LL), as a reflection of their increased sensitivity to unknown environmental risk factors. Telephone interviews were used to assess symptoms of depression and suicidality on 824 MZT. Rather than using the interview items to calculate sum scores or allocate diagnostic classes we use Item Response Theory to model the contribution of each item to each individual's underlying liability to depression. SLE were also measured on the MZT assessed by mailed questionnaire on average 3.8 years previously, and these were used in follow-up analyses. We find no evidence for significant differences in within pair variance between 5HTTLPR genotypic classes and so can provide no support for interaction between these genotypes and the environment. The use of MZT provides a novel framework for examining genotype x environment interaction in the absence of measures on SLE.
{"title":"Use of monozygotic twins to investigate the relationship between 5HTTLPR genotype, depression and stressful life events: an application of Item Response Theory.","authors":"N. Wray, W. Coventry, M. James, G. Montgomery, L. Eaves, N. Martin","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH4","url":null,"abstract":"We examine the interaction between stressful life events (SLE) and genotypes for the length polymorphism of the serotonin receptor gene (5HTTLPR) on risk of depression. We hypothesize that if the interaction is real, monozygotic twin pairs (MZT) homozygous for the short allele (SS) will have a greater within pair variance in depression measures than MZT homozygous for the long allele (LL), as a reflection of their increased sensitivity to unknown environmental risk factors. Telephone interviews were used to assess symptoms of depression and suicidality on 824 MZT. Rather than using the interview items to calculate sum scores or allocate diagnostic classes we use Item Response Theory to model the contribution of each item to each individual's underlying liability to depression. SLE were also measured on the MZT assessed by mailed questionnaire on average 3.8 years previously, and these were used in follow-up analyses. We find no evidence for significant differences in within pair variance between 5HTTLPR genotypic classes and so can provide no support for interaction between these genotypes and the environment. The use of MZT provides a novel framework for examining genotype x environment interaction in the absence of measures on SLE.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"17 2","pages":"48-59; discussion 59-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH12
M. Kotb, Nourtan Fathey, R. Aziz, Sarah Rowe, Robert W. Williams, Lu Lu
Like most human diseases, infectious diseases are effected by complex genetic traits and multiple, interactive environmental and inherent host factors. By linking specific genotypes to disease susceptibility phenotypes we can identify the genetic basis for inter-individual differences in disease susceptibility as well as gain insight into how gene-environment interactions influence infection outcomes. Our research has focused on delineating interactive pathways and molecular events modulating host resistance or susceptibility to specific pathogens. Our model system has been that of Group A Streptococcus infections that can manifest in starkly different ways and cause distinct diseases in genetically distinct individuals. We have extended our work to other pathogens, including those with a potential of causing major, global biological threats. In as much as it is quite difficult to conduct certain infectious disease studies in humans, there has been a critical need for small animal models for infectious diseases. Appreciating the limitations of existing models, we developed several novel and complementary mouse models that are ideal for use in systems genetics studies of complex diseases. These models not only allow biological validation of known genetic associations, but importantly they afford an unbiased tool for discovering novel genes and pathways contributing to disease outcomes, under different environments.
{"title":"Unbiased forward genetics and systems biology approaches to understanding how gene-environment interactions work to predict susceptibility and outcomes of infections.","authors":"M. Kotb, Nourtan Fathey, R. Aziz, Sarah Rowe, Robert W. Williams, Lu Lu","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH12","url":null,"abstract":"Like most human diseases, infectious diseases are effected by complex genetic traits and multiple, interactive environmental and inherent host factors. By linking specific genotypes to disease susceptibility phenotypes we can identify the genetic basis for inter-individual differences in disease susceptibility as well as gain insight into how gene-environment interactions influence infection outcomes. Our research has focused on delineating interactive pathways and molecular events modulating host resistance or susceptibility to specific pathogens. Our model system has been that of Group A Streptococcus infections that can manifest in starkly different ways and cause distinct diseases in genetically distinct individuals. We have extended our work to other pathogens, including those with a potential of causing major, global biological threats. In as much as it is quite difficult to conduct certain infectious disease studies in humans, there has been a critical need for small animal models for infectious diseases. Appreciating the limitations of existing models, we developed several novel and complementary mouse models that are ideal for use in systems genetics studies of complex diseases. These models not only allow biological validation of known genetic associations, but importantly they afford an unbiased tool for discovering novel genes and pathways contributing to disease outcomes, under different environments.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"20 3","pages":"156-65; discussion 165-7, 181-3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH2
R. Uher
While interacting biological effects of genes and environmental exposures (G x E) form a natural part of the causal framework underlying disorders of human health, the detection of G x E relies on inference from statistical interactions observed at population level. The validity of such inference has been questioned because the presence or absence of statistical interaction depends on measurement scale and statistical model. Furthermore, the feasibility of G x E research is threatened by the fact that tests of statistical interaction require large samples and their power is substantially reduced by unreliability in the assessments of genes, environmental exposures and pathology. It is demonstrated that concerns about statistical models and scaling can be addressed by integration of observational and experimental data. Judicious selection of genes and environmental factors should limit multiple testing. To overcome the challenge of low statistical power, it is suggested to maximize the reliability of measurement, integrate prior knowledge under Bayesian framework and facilitate pooling of data across studies by use of standardized stratified reporting. Consistencies and discrepancies among studies can be exploited for methodological analysis and model specification.
{"title":"Gene-environment interaction: overcoming methodological challenges.","authors":"R. Uher","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH2","url":null,"abstract":"While interacting biological effects of genes and environmental exposures (G x E) form a natural part of the causal framework underlying disorders of human health, the detection of G x E relies on inference from statistical interactions observed at population level. The validity of such inference has been questioned because the presence or absence of statistical interaction depends on measurement scale and statistical model. Furthermore, the feasibility of G x E research is threatened by the fact that tests of statistical interaction require large samples and their power is substantially reduced by unreliability in the assessments of genes, environmental exposures and pathology. It is demonstrated that concerns about statistical models and scaling can be addressed by integration of observational and experimental data. Judicious selection of genes and environmental factors should limit multiple testing. To overcome the challenge of low statistical power, it is suggested to maximize the reliability of measurement, integrate prior knowledge under Bayesian framework and facilitate pooling of data across studies by use of standardized stratified reporting. Consistencies and discrepancies among studies can be exploited for methodological analysis and model specification.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"26 7","pages":"13-26; discussion 26-30, 68-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470697405.CH2
A. Foulis
In type 1 autoimmune diabetes there is a selective destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells. Around the time of clinical presentation, insulitis, a chronic inflammatory infiltrate of the islets affecting primarily insulin containing islets, is present in the majority of cases. The inflammatory infiltrate consists primarily of T lymphocytes; CD8 cells outnumber CD4 cells, there are fewer B lymphocytes and macrophages are relatively scarce. beta cell death may involve the Fas apoptotic pathway since they have been shown to express Fas, infiltrating T lymphocytes express Fas-L and apoptotic beta cells have been described. Hyperexpression of class I MHC by all the endocrine cells in many insulin-containing islets is a well recognized phenomenon, characteristic of the disease. It has been argued that this is an earlier event than insulitis within a given islet and appears to be due to secretion of interferon alpha by beta cells within that islet. A recent study has found evidence of Coxsackie virus infection in beta cells in three out of six pancreases of patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Coxsackie viruses are known to induce interferon alpha secretion by beta cells and this could initiate the sequence of events that culminates in their autoimmune destruction.
{"title":"Pancreatic pathology in type 1 diabetes in human.","authors":"A. Foulis","doi":"10.1002/9780470697405.CH2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470697405.CH2","url":null,"abstract":"In type 1 autoimmune diabetes there is a selective destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells. Around the time of clinical presentation, insulitis, a chronic inflammatory infiltrate of the islets affecting primarily insulin containing islets, is present in the majority of cases. The inflammatory infiltrate consists primarily of T lymphocytes; CD8 cells outnumber CD4 cells, there are fewer B lymphocytes and macrophages are relatively scarce. beta cell death may involve the Fas apoptotic pathway since they have been shown to express Fas, infiltrating T lymphocytes express Fas-L and apoptotic beta cells have been described. Hyperexpression of class I MHC by all the endocrine cells in many insulin-containing islets is a well recognized phenomenon, characteristic of the disease. It has been argued that this is an earlier event than insulitis within a given islet and appears to be due to secretion of interferon alpha by beta cells within that islet. A recent study has found evidence of Coxsackie virus infection in beta cells in three out of six pancreases of patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Coxsackie viruses are known to induce interferon alpha secretion by beta cells and this could initiate the sequence of events that culminates in their autoimmune destruction.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"22 9","pages":"2-13; discussion 13-8, 122-9, 202-3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1002/9780470697405.CH2","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-08-12DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH7
K. Dodge
This chapter argues that implications of the gene-environment interaction revolution for public policy and practice are contingent on how the findings get framed in public discourse. Frame analysis is used to identify the implications of the ways in which findings are cast. The frame of 'defective group' perpetuates racial and class stereotypes and limits policy efforts to redress health disparities. Furthermore, empirical evidence finds it inaccurate. The frame of'defective gene' precludes the adaptive genetic significance of genes. The frame of 'individual genetic profile' offers individualized health care but risks misapplication in policies that place responsibility for disease prevention on the individual to the policy relief of industry and toxic environments. Framing the interaction in terms of 'defective environments' promotes the identification of harmful environments that can be regulated through policy. The 'therapeutic environment' frame offers hope of discovering interventions that have greater precision and effectiveness but risks dis-incentivizing the pharmaceutical industry from discovering drug treatments for 'obscure' gene-environment match groups. Can a more accurate and helpful framing of the gene-environment interaction be identified? Findings that genes shape environments and that environments alter the gene pool suggest a more textured and symbiotic relationship that is still in search of an apt public framing.
{"title":"Practice and public policy in the era of gene-environment interactions.","authors":"K. Dodge","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH7","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter argues that implications of the gene-environment interaction revolution for public policy and practice are contingent on how the findings get framed in public discourse. Frame analysis is used to identify the implications of the ways in which findings are cast. The frame of 'defective group' perpetuates racial and class stereotypes and limits policy efforts to redress health disparities. Furthermore, empirical evidence finds it inaccurate. The frame of'defective gene' precludes the adaptive genetic significance of genes. The frame of 'individual genetic profile' offers individualized health care but risks misapplication in policies that place responsibility for disease prevention on the individual to the policy relief of industry and toxic environments. Framing the interaction in terms of 'defective environments' promotes the identification of harmful environments that can be regulated through policy. The 'therapeutic environment' frame offers hope of discovering interventions that have greater precision and effectiveness but risks dis-incentivizing the pharmaceutical industry from discovering drug treatments for 'obscure' gene-environment match groups. Can a more accurate and helpful framing of the gene-environment interaction be identified? Findings that genes shape environments and that environments alter the gene pool suggest a more textured and symbiotic relationship that is still in search of an apt public framing.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"28 5","pages":"87-97; discussion 97-102, 122-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-03-01DOI: 10.1002/9780470696781.CH6
H. Snieder, Xiaoling Wang, V. Lagou, B. Penninx, H. Riese, C. Hartman
Identification of genetic variants underlying common complex traits and diseases can be viewed as a three-stage process that jump-started with the sequencing of the human genome. The second phase, characterization of genetic variants in different human populations, has shown major progress in recent years. The increased availability of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has already spawned two important developments in genetic association studies. Increasingly, rather than focusing on one or two functional SNPs, candidate gene studies consider all variants within the gene jointly. The second development is that of the whole genome association study. This chapter illustrates two distinct ways in which gene-stress interactions may aid such gene finding studies. We have recently shown for heart rate variability--an index of autonomic dysfunction related to both psychopathology and cardiovascular disease--that exposure to an acute stressful challenge in a standardized lab setting may produce a more heritable endophenotype, facilitating identification of underlying genes. The second example shows how the creation of a cumulative index of chronic stress based on multiple questionnaire- and interview-based measures of stress exposure may be applied in a genome-wide association study of (high) blood pressure to find genes that only come to expression in stressful environments. We conclude that investigation ofgene-environment interactions in the context of both gene- and genome-wide association studies may offer important advantages in gene finding efforts for complex traits and diseases.
{"title":"Role of gene-stress interactions in gene-finding studies.","authors":"H. Snieder, Xiaoling Wang, V. Lagou, B. Penninx, H. Riese, C. Hartman","doi":"10.1002/9780470696781.CH6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696781.CH6","url":null,"abstract":"Identification of genetic variants underlying common complex traits and diseases can be viewed as a three-stage process that jump-started with the sequencing of the human genome. The second phase, characterization of genetic variants in different human populations, has shown major progress in recent years. The increased availability of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has already spawned two important developments in genetic association studies. Increasingly, rather than focusing on one or two functional SNPs, candidate gene studies consider all variants within the gene jointly. The second development is that of the whole genome association study. This chapter illustrates two distinct ways in which gene-stress interactions may aid such gene finding studies. We have recently shown for heart rate variability--an index of autonomic dysfunction related to both psychopathology and cardiovascular disease--that exposure to an acute stressful challenge in a standardized lab setting may produce a more heritable endophenotype, facilitating identification of underlying genes. The second example shows how the creation of a cumulative index of chronic stress based on multiple questionnaire- and interview-based measures of stress exposure may be applied in a genome-wide association study of (high) blood pressure to find genes that only come to expression in stressful environments. We conclude that investigation ofgene-environment interactions in the context of both gene- and genome-wide association studies may offer important advantages in gene finding efforts for complex traits and diseases.","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"14 2","pages":"71-82; discussion 83-6, 122-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50674406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-01-01DOI: 10.1002/9780470751251.ch9
Jay N Giedd, Rhoshel K Lenroot, Philip Shaw, Francois Lalonde, Mark Celano, Samantha White, Julia Tossell, Anjene Addington, Nitin Gogtay
Many cognitive, emotional and behavioural traits, as well as psychiatric disorders are highly heritable. However, identifying the specific genes and mechanisms by which this heritability manifests has been elusive. One approach to make this problem more tractable has been to attempt to identify and quantify biological markers that are intermediate steps along the gene-to-behaviour path. The field of neuroimaging offers several anatomic and physiologic possibilities to quantify. Stability over time has been proposed as a desired feature for these intermediate phenotypes. However, in this paper we discuss the value of looking at trajectories of anatomic brain development (i.e. morphometric changes over time), as opposed to static measures, as a phenotype. Examples drawn from longitudinal anatomic magnetic resonance imaging studies of typical development, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and childhood-onset schizophrenia are used to demonstrate the utility of trajectories of brain development as a phenotypic bridge between genes and behaviour in health and in illness.
{"title":"Trajectories of anatomic brain development as a phenotype.","authors":"Jay N Giedd, Rhoshel K Lenroot, Philip Shaw, Francois Lalonde, Mark Celano, Samantha White, Julia Tossell, Anjene Addington, Nitin Gogtay","doi":"10.1002/9780470751251.ch9","DOIUrl":"10.1002/9780470751251.ch9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many cognitive, emotional and behavioural traits, as well as psychiatric disorders are highly heritable. However, identifying the specific genes and mechanisms by which this heritability manifests has been elusive. One approach to make this problem more tractable has been to attempt to identify and quantify biological markers that are intermediate steps along the gene-to-behaviour path. The field of neuroimaging offers several anatomic and physiologic possibilities to quantify. Stability over time has been proposed as a desired feature for these intermediate phenotypes. However, in this paper we discuss the value of looking at trajectories of anatomic brain development (i.e. morphometric changes over time), as opposed to static measures, as a phenotype. Examples drawn from longitudinal anatomic magnetic resonance imaging studies of typical development, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and childhood-onset schizophrenia are used to demonstrate the utility of trajectories of brain development as a phenotypic bridge between genes and behaviour in health and in illness.</p>","PeriodicalId":19323,"journal":{"name":"Novartis Foundation Symposium","volume":"289 ","pages":"101-12; discussion 112-8, 193-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3024856/pdf/nihms207308.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27455933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}