Bias of the estimated recombination fraction and lod score due to an association between a disease gene and a marker gene.
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Using a linkage model with mixed parental mating types between a trait locus and a marker locus the asymptotic null distribution of the statistic U = 2ln(10)Z(theta) was stimulated and compared to the chi square type distribution function 1/2 + 1/2 Pr [chi 2(1) less than mu]. The stimulation results show that the chi square approximation fits the asymptotic null distribution well when both loci are predominated by either one of the two alleles at their loci, respectively, or the linkage phase tends to disequilibrium.
On extended pedigrees with extensive missing data, the calculation of multilocus likelihoods for linkage analysis is often beyond the computational bounds of exact methods. Growing interest therefore surrounds the implementation of Monte Carlo estimation methods. In this paper, we demonstrate the speed and accuracy of a new Markov chain Monte Carlo method for the estimation of linkage likelihoods through an analysis of real data from a study of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. For those data sets where comparison with exact analysis is possible, we achieved up to a 100-fold increase in speed. Our approach is implemented in the program lm_bayes within the framework of the freely available MORGAN 2.6 package for Monte Carlo genetic analysis (http://www.stat.washington.edu/thompson/Genepi/MORGAN/Morgan.shtml).
We report a genome-wide linkage study of asthma on the German and Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Asthma (CSGA) data. Using a combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium test and the nonparametric linkage score, we identified 13 markers from the German data, 1 marker from the African American (CSGA) data, and 7 markers from the Caucasian (CSGA) data in which the p-values ranged between 0.0001 and 0.0100. From our analysis and taking into account previous published linkage studies of asthma, we suggest that three regions in chromosome 5 (around D5S418, D5S644, and D5S422), one region in chromosome 6 (around three neighboring markers D6S1281, D6S291, and D6S1019), one region in chromosome 11 (around D11S2362), and two regions in chromosome 12 (around D12S351 and D12S324) especially merit further investigation.
We present a recoding scheme that allows for a parametric multipoint X-chromosomal linkage analysis of dichotomous traits in the context of a computer program for autosomes that can use trait models with imprinting. Furthermore, with this scheme, it is possible to perform a joint multipoint analysis of X-linked and pseudoautosomal loci. It is required that (1) the marker genotypes of all female nonfounders are available and that (2) there are no male nonfounders who have daughters in the pedigree. The second requirement does not apply if the trait locus is pseudoautosomal. The X-linked marker loci are recorded by adding a dummy allele to the males' hemizygous genotypes. For modelling an X-linked trait locus, five different liability classes are defined, in conjunction with a paternal imprinting model for male nonfounders. The formulation aims at the mapping of a diallelic trait locus relative to an arbitrary number of codominant markers with known genetic distances, in cases where a program for a genuine X-chromosomal analysis is not available.
Complex diseases are often reported along with disease-related traits (DRT). Sometimes investigators consider both disease and DRT phenotypes separately and sometimes they consider individuals as affected if they have either the disease or the DRT, or both. We propose instead to consider the joint distribution of the disease and the DRT and do a linkage analysis assuming a pleiotropic model. We evaluated our results through analysis of the simulated datasets provided by Genetic Analysis Workshop 14. We first conducted univariate linkage analysis of the simulated disease, Kofendrerd Personality Disorder and one of its simulated associated traits, phenotype b (fear/discomfort with strangers). Subsequently, we considered the bivariate phenotype, which combined the information on Kofendrerd Personality Disorder and fear/discomfort with strangers. We developed a program to perform bivariate linkage analysis using an extension to the Elston-Stewart peeling method of likelihood calculation. Using this program we considered the microsatellites within 30 cM of the gene pleiotropic for this simulated disease and DRT. Based on 100 simulations of 300 families we observed excellent power to detect linkage within 10 cM of the disease locus using the DRT and the bivariate trait.
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Reviewing the history of psychiatric genetics is a difficult task, since--in contrast to genetic research into most other disorders--it cannot simply be done by chronologically listing methodological achievements and major findings. Instead, it necessitates a comprehensive assessment of how the aetiological concept of mental disorders has developed since as early as the world of ancient Greece. Furthermore, it has to touch upon the sensitive issue of the eugenic movement that was closely linked to the study of heredity in mental disorders in the first half of the 20th century and, in Nazi Germany, led to the systematic mass murder of psychiatric patients. Finally, reviewing the scientific dimensions, history of psychiatric genetics is at the same time a walk through the history of complex genetics in general. In our review, we try to pay tribute to this complexity. We argue that psychiatric genetics has not only propelled our understanding of mental disorders but has significantly benefited genetic research into other complex disorders through the development of methodologically robust approaches (e.g., systematic phenotype characterisation, methods to control for ascertainment biases, age-correction). Given the recent reasons for new optimism, i.e., the identification of susceptibility genes for psychiatric phenotypes, a continued methodologically sound approach is needed more than ever to guarantee robust results. Finally, psychiatric genetic research should never again be performed in an environment void of ethical standards.
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Recently Dryja and his co-workers observed a mutation in the 23d codon of the rhodopsin gene in a proportion of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP) patients. Linkage analysis with a rhodopsin-linked probe C17 (D3S47) was carried out in two large British ADRP families, one with diffuse-type (D-type) RP and the other with regional-type (R-type) RP. Significantly positive lod scores (lod score maximum [Zmax] = +5.58 at recombination fraction [theta] = .0) were obtained between C17 and our D-type ADRP family showing complete penetrance. Sequence and oligonucleotide analysis has, however, shown that no point mutation at the 23d codon exists in affected individuals in our complete-penetrance pedigree, indicating that another rhodopsin mutation is probably responsible for ADRP in this family. Significantly negative lod scores (Z less than -2 at theta = .045) were, however, obtained between C17 and our R-type family which showed incomplete penetrance. Previous results presented by this laboratory also showed no linkage between C17 and another large British R-type ADRP family with incomplete penetrance. This confirms genetic heterogeneity. Some types of ADRP are being caused by different mutations in the rhodopsin locus (3q21-24) or another tightly linked gene in this region, while other types of ADRP are the result of mutations elsewhere in the genome.
As for other complex diseases, linkage analyses of schizophrenia (SZ) have produced evidence for numerous chromosomal regions, with inconsistent results reported across studies. The presence of locus heterogeneity appears likely and may reduce the power of linkage analyses if homogeneity is assumed. In addition, when multiple heterogeneous datasets are pooled, inter-sample variation in the proportion of linked families (alpha) may diminish the power of the pooled sample to detect susceptibility loci, in spite of the larger sample size obtained. We compare the significance of linkage findings obtained using allele-sharing LOD scores (LOD(exp))-which assume homogeneity-and heterogeneity LOD scores (HLOD) in European American and African American NIMH SZ families. We also pool these two samples and evaluate the relative power of the LOD(exp) and two different heterogeneity statistics. One of these (HLOD-P) estimates the heterogeneity parameter alpha only in aggregate data, while the second (HLOD-S) determines alpha separately for each sample. In separate and combined data, we show consistently improved performance of HLOD scores over LOD(exp). Notably, genome-wide significant evidence for linkage is obtained at chromosome 10p in the European American sample using a recessive HLOD score. When the two samples are combined, linkage at the 10p locus also achieves genome-wide significance under HLOD-S, but not HLOD-P. Using HLOD-S, improved evidence for linkage was also obtained for a previously reported region on chromosome 15q. In linkage analyses of complex disease, power may be maximised by routinely modelling locus heterogeneity within individual datasets, even when multiple datasets are combined to form larger samples.
A genome-wide linkage scan was conducted to identify regions potentially having quantitative trait loci (QTLs) influencing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. We found suggestive evidence of a QTL (lod score (LOD)=1.75, p=0.00224, and q=0.07649) influencing the variation of plasma levels of age- and sex-adjusted HDL-cholesterol on chromosome 15q21 at marker D15S659 in the NHLBI FHS data. Owing to the perturbations to lipid profiles associated with diabetes, the analysis was repeated excluding diabetic subjects from the sample. The lod score increased from 1.75 to 2.71 (p=0.00021, q=0.05392) at the same chromosome 15 location, despite the reduction in sample size. This finding indicates that the inclusion of diabetic subjects in the analysis may confound the presence of a QTL for HDL-cholesterol on 15q21. Because of the known effects of important covariates such as metabolic variables and lifestyle habits that may interact with a putative QTL, we also analyzed HDL-cholesterol with a progressive adjustment. When body mass index, smoking, and habitual alcohol intake were added to age- and sex-adjustment, we found strong evidence for linkage in the complete sample (LOD=4.77, p=0.0000013, and q=0.00016) as well as in the non-diabetic sub-sample (LOD=4.52, p=0.0000025, and q=0.00026) on chromosome 15q21 (between D15S659 and D15S195 markers). These results suggest that there are multiple pathways and factors involving genetic and environmental effects influencing HDL-cholesterol levels, and by taking some of these known factors into account, we obtained strong evidence of a QTL influencing HDL-cholesterol levels. While this putative QTL may also have an effect in diabetes, our data suggest a more pronounced role in non-diabetics. A prominent candidate gene residing within the linkage region on 15q21 is hepatic lipase (HL), which has a major role in lipoprotein metabolism.
The nature of subtypes in schizophrenia and the meaning of heterogeneity in schizophrenia have been considered a principal controversy in psychiatric research. We addressed these issues in periodic catatonia, a clinical entity derived from Leonhard's classification of schizophrenias, in a genomewide linkage scan. Periodic catatonia is characterized by qualitative psychomotor disturbances during acute psychotic outbursts and by long-term outcome. On the basis of our previous findings of a lifetime morbidity risk of 26.9% of periodic catatonia in first-degree relatives, we conducted a genome scan in 12 multiplex pedigrees with 135 individuals, using 356 markers with an average spacing of 11 cM. In nonparametric multipoint linkage analyses (by GENEHUNTER-PLUS), significant evidence for linkage was obtained on chromosome 15q15 (P = 2.6 x 10(-5); nonparametric LOD score [LOD*] 3.57). A further locus on chromosome 22q13 with suggestive evidence for linkage (P = 1.8 x 10(-3); LOD* 1.85) was detected, which indicated genetic heterogeneity. Parametric linkage analysis under an autosomal dominant model (affecteds-only analysis) provided independent confirmation of nonparametric linkage results, with maximum LOD scores 2.75 (recombination fraction [theta].04; two-point analysis) and 2.89 (theta =.029; four-point analysis), at the chromosome 15q candidate region. Splitting the complex group of schizophrenias on the basis of clinical observation and genetic analysis, we identified periodic catatonia as a valid nosological entity. Our findings provide evidence that periodic catatonia is associated with a major disease locus, which maps to chromosome 15q15.
Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL-P) is a common congenital anomaly with incidence ranging from 1 in 300 to 1 in 2,500 live births. We analyzed two Indian pedigrees (UR017 and UR019) with isolated, nonsyndromic CL-P, in which the anomaly segregates as an autosomal dominant trait. The phenotype was variable, ranging from unilateral to bilateral CL-P. A genomewide linkage scan that used approximately 10,000 SNPs was performed. Nonparametric linkage (NPL) analysis identified 11 genomic regions (NPL>3.5; P<.005) that could potentially harbor CL-P susceptibility variations. Among those, the most significant evidence was for chromosome 13q33.1-34 at marker rs1830756 (NPL=5.57; P=.00024). This was also supported by parametric linkage; MOD score (LOD scores maximized over genetic model parameters) analysis favored an autosomal dominant model. The maximum LOD score was 4.45, and heterogeneity LOD was 4.45 (alpha =100%). Haplotype analysis with informative crossovers enabled the mapping of the CL-P locus to a region of approximately 20.17 cM (7.42 Mb) between SNPs rs951095 and rs726455. Thus, we have identified a novel genomic region on 13q33.1-34 that harbors a high-risk variant for CL-P in these Indian families.
Several studies provide suggestive evidence of a susceptibility locus for bipolar disorder at chromosome 21q22-23. In an attempt to replicate these findings, we have analyzed linkage to 11 polymorphic markers from this region in 18 Bulgarian pedigrees with affective disorder. Two-point linkage analysis under assumption of homogeneity and a dominant model with reduced penetrance produced modest positive values for some of the markers tested under a 'narrow' phenotype definition, including bipolar I and II, and schizoaffective disorder. The maximum two-point score (lod=1.76, theta=0.00) was at marker D21S1919. Non-parametric linkage analysis under the same phenotype model, yielded positive NPLall values (P<0.05) over the region between markers D21S211 and D21S416, with a peak at D21S1252 (NPL Zall=2.32, P=0.0003). The multipoint lod score (GENEHUNTER) reached a suggestive value for linkage (lod=2.10) also at marker D21S1252. The results under a recessive model were completely negative. These data add to the evidence for the existence of a susceptibility locus for bipolar affective disorder on chromosome 21q22.
We present the findings of a large linkage study of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) that involved genomewide analysis of 52 families (448 genotyped individuals) of Spanish, Romany, and Bulgarian descent and further fine mapping of the 1p34-p36, 4q28-q31, and 6q15-q24 regions. An additional sample of 56 German families (280 individuals) was included for this fine-mapping step. The highest nonparametric linkage scores obtained in the fine mapping were 5.49 for 4q31 and 4.87 for 6q24 in the Romany families and 3.97 for 1p35-p36 in the Spanish sample. MOD-score (LOD scores maximized over genetic model parameters) analysis provided significant evidence of linkage to 4q31 and at least borderline significance for the 1p and 6q regions. On the basis of these results and previous positive research findings, 4q31 and 6q24 should now be considered confirmed BPAD susceptibility loci, and 1p35-p36 is proposed as a new putative locus that requires confirmation in replication studies.