Genome-Wide Association Study of Height and Body Mass Index in Australian Twin Families

Abstract

AbstractHuman height and body mass index are influenced by a large number of genes, each with small effects, along with environment. To identify common genetic variants associated with these traits, we performed genome-wide association studies in 11,536 individuals composed of Australian twins, family members, and unrelated individuals at ∼550,000 genotyped SNPs. We identified a single genome-wide significant variant for height (Pvalue = 1.06 × 10–9) located inHHIP, a well-replicated height-associated gene. Suggestive levels of association were found for other known genes associated with height (Pvalues < 1 × 10–6):ADAMTSL3,EFEMP1,GPR126, andHMGA2; and BMI (Pvalues < 1 × 10–4):FTOandMC4R. Together, these variants explain less than 2% of total phenotypic variation for height and 0.5% for BMI.