deCODE genetics - New study on inheritance and fetal growth
PR90665
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
Scientist´s from deCODE genetics have mapped 243 sequence variants affecting
fetal growth, separating maternal genome and fetal genome. It sheds light on
the relationships between hypertension, diabetes and fetal growth.
In a paper published in Nature genetics today, Scientists from deCODE genetics,
a fully owned subsidiary of Amgen, report sequence variants that associate with
birth weight and demonstrate how these variants affect birth weight through
both the maternal and fetal genomes. Although birth weight is associated with a
range of health outcomes, it is debated how much these relationships are
through the fetal genome or affected by the intrauterine environment, and hence
the maternal genome.
A total of 243 fetal growth variants are reported and 141 of them were grouped
into four main clusters based on separating the effect of the variant on birth
weight though the maternal versus fetal genome. The majority of variants show
an effect only in the fetus and a quarter of those show evidence of a
parent-of-origin specific effect on birth weight i.e. the effect on the fetus
differs depending on whether the child inherited the variant from the mother or
the father. Some variants have an effect only in the mother but around 30%
affect birth weight both through the maternal and fetal genomes, where for some
the effect is in the same direction, no matter whether from mother or father,
while for others the effect is in opposite directions.
Polygenic risk score analysis of disease-associated variants revealed that
variants associating with blood pressure do not associate with birth weight
when in the maternal genome but in the fetal genome the blood pressure raising
allele correlates with lower birth weight. Variants that associate with risk of
type 2 diabetes associate with birth weight through both the maternal and fetal
genomes but in opposite directions. In the mother, the risk alleles correlate
with higher birth weight but when in the fetus they correlate with lower birth
weight.
"The ability to analyse directly the effect of each of the transmitted alleles
and the maternal non-transmitted allele allows us to separate what happens
through the mother from a direct effect on birth weight through the fetal
genome," says Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir scientist at deCODE Genetics and
author on the paper.
The study reports an expanded GWAS meta-analysis of 400,000 children, 270,000
mothers and 60,000 fathers, combining data from the Icelandic Birth Register
for 125,000 newborns and their parents with public summary level fetal growth
data on children and mothers from the Early Growth Genetics Consortium and UK
Biobank. The effects of the fetal, maternal and paternal genomes on birth
weight were analysed and the study further includes analysis of birth length
and ponderal index.
"It is clear from these results that in our beginnings we are not only shaped
by the half of our maternal genome that is transmitted to us but also the
untransmitted half," says Kari Stefansson CEO of deCODE genetics. "Here we show
how the influence of the two halves can be separated."
Based in Reykjavik, Iceland, deCODE is a global leader in analyzing and
understanding the human genome. Using its unique expertise in human genetics
combined with growing expertise in transcriptomics and population proteomics
and vast amount of phenotypic data, deCODE has discovered risk factors for
dozens of common diseases and provided key insights into their pathogenesis.
The purpose of understanding the genetics of disease is to use that information
to create new means of diagnosing, treating and preventing disease. deCODE is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN).
Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1557521/Birth_Weight.mp4
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Source: deCODE genetics
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