Genetic and Environmental Determinants of 17 Serum Biochemical Traits in Brazilian Twins

Abstract

The genetic and environmental effects on the levels of 17 serum biochemical quantitative traits (calcium, phosphorus, glucose, urea nitrogen, uric acid, total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), total lipid, cholesterol, triglyceride, α-lipoprotein, pre-β-lipoprotein and β-lipoprotein) were estimated in 105 pairs of healthy twins of both sexes (57 MZ and 48 DZ) by path analysis. The genotype effect was significant for all traits (P < 0.001) and its value extended from 0.52 (α-lipoprotein) to 0.81 (alkaline phosphatase), whereas environmental effect was significant (P < 0.05) in only 10 traits of the 17 analyzed, with the maximum value of 0.13 (cholesterol). Correlations between genotypes of paired traits were estimated and, of 136 values, 47 were significant at the 5% levels, thus indicating partial and common genetic mechanisms.