A genome-wide scan for loci affecting normal adult height in the Framingham Heart Study

Objective:To map loci influencing normal adult height in 335 families from the Framingham Heart Study. Methods: We analyzed data consisting of 1,702 genotyped individuals who have been followed over time. The first height measurement for individuals between the ages 20-55 years was analyzed in a genome-wide scan using variance component linkage analysis. Sex, age, and cohort effects were removed before analysis. Results: Two regions (18pter-p11, 22q11.2) with multipoint LOD scores >1.0 (-log p values >2.0) were detected: we obtained LOD scores of 1.38 at D18S1364, and of 1.10 at D22S345. Analysis of height as a sex-limited phenotype revealed a peak in the 9p21 region near D9S319 with a maximum LOD score of 1.65 (-log p value >3.0) when only male height phenotypes were used. When only female phenotypes were used, a peak with a maximum LOD score of 1.85 (-log p value of 2.70) was observed in the 11q25-qter region near D11S2359. Conclusions: Our region of interest on chromosome 9 has been implicated by two prior studies. Variance components analysis appeared to be sensitive to pedigree structures as well as the method of IBD computation used. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel.