Maternal age at the birth of the first child as an epistatic factor in polygenic disorders

The identification of the genes for complex, polygenic disorders has proven difficult. This is due to the small effect size of each gene and genetic heterogeneity. An additional important factor could be the presence of unidentified epistatic factors. In the broad definition of epistasis, the effect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics Neuropsychiatric genetics, 2006-01, Vol.141B (1), p.1-6
Main Authors: Comings, David E., MacMurray, James P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Analysis of Variance
complex disorders
DRD1
epistasis
Epistasis, Genetic
Female
Genotype
Humans
Maternal Age
Multifactorial Inheritance - genetics
obsessive-compulsive
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - genetics
Parturition
polygenic inheritance
Polymorphism, Genetic
Pregnancy
Receptors, Dopamine D1 - genetics
stuttering
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Summary:The identification of the genes for complex, polygenic disorders has proven difficult. This is due to the small effect size of each gene and genetic heterogeneity. An additional important factor could be the presence of unidentified epistatic factors. In the broad definition of epistasis, the effect of one unit is not predicable unless the value of another unit is known and one of the units may not be a gene. We have previously identified maternal age as an epistatic factor for the effect of the LEP gene on the age of onset of menarche. We report here the effect of maternal age and the age of the mother at the birth of her first child (maternal age 1st) as epistatic factors for the interaction of the dopamine D1 gene (DRD1) with obsessive‐compulsive behaviors and with stuttering. The epistatic effects of maternal age 1st were stronger than maternal age. This type of epistatic factor may be generalizable to many other gene–trait interactions. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:1552-4841
1552-485X
DOI:10.1002/ajmg.b.30026