Dataset Information

A family-based association test to detect gene-gene interactions in the presence of linkage.

ABSTRACT: For many complex diseases, quantitative traits contain more information than dichotomous traits. One of the approaches used to analyse these traits in family-based association studies is the quantitative transmission disequilibrium test (QTDT). The QTDT is a regression-based approach that models simultaneously linkage and association. It splits up the association effect in a between- and a within-family genetic component to adjust and test for population stratification and includes a variance components method to model linkage. We extend this approach to detect gene-gene interactions between two unlinked QTLs by adjusting the definition of the between- and within-family component and the variance components included in the model. We simulate data to investigate the influence of the epistasis model, linkage disequilibrium patterns between the markers and the QTLs, and allele frequencies on the power and type I error rates of the approach. Results show that for some of the investigated settings, power gains are obtained in comparison with FAM-MDR. We conclude that our approach shows promising results for candidate-gene studies where too few markers are available to correct for population stratification using standard methods (for example EIGENSTRAT). The proposed method is applied to real-life data on hypertension from the FLEMENGHO study.

SUBMITTER: De Lobel L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3421128 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A family-based association test to detect gene-gene interactions in the presence of linkage.

De Lobel Lizzy L Thijs Lutgarde L Kouznetsova Tatiana T Staessen Jan A JA Van Steen Kristel K

European journal of human genetics : EJHG 20120314 9

For many complex diseases, quantitative traits contain more information than dichotomous traits. One of the approaches used to analyse these traits in family-based association studies is the quantitative transmission disequilibrium test (QTDT). The QTDT is a regression-based approach that models simultaneously linkage and association. It splits up the association effect in a between- and a within-family genetic component to adjust and test for population stratification and includes a variance co ...[more]

PMID: 22419171

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Project description:Family-based association methods have been developed primarily for autosomal markers. The X-linked sibling transmission/disequilibrium test (XS-TDT) and the reconstruction-combined TDT for X-chromosome markers (XRC-TDT) are the first association-based methods for testing markers on the X chromosome in family data sets. These are valid tests of association in family triads or discordant sib pairs but are not theoretically valid in multiplex families when linkage is present. Recently, XPDT and XMCPDT, modified versions of the pedigree disequilibrium test (PDT), were proposed. Like the PDT, XPDT compares genotype transmissions from parents to affected offspring or genotypes of discordant siblings; however, the XPDT can have low power if there are many missing parental genotypes. XMCPDT uses a Monte Carlo sampling approach to infer missing parental genotypes on the basis of true or estimated population allele frequencies. Although the XMCPDT was shown to be more powerful than the XPDT, variability in the statistic due to the use of an estimate of allele frequency is not properly accounted for. Here, we present a novel family-based test of association, X-APL, a modification of the test for association in the presence of linkage (APL) test. Like the APL, X-APL can use singleton or multiplex families and properly infers missing parental genotypes in linkage regions by considering identity-by-descent parameters for affected siblings. Sampling variability of parameter estimates is accounted for through a bootstrap procedure. X-APL can test individual marker loci or X-chromosome haplotypes. To allow for different penetrances in males and females, separate sex-specific tests are provided. Using simulated data, we demonstrated validity and showed that the X-APL is more powerful than alternative tests. To show its utility and to discuss interpretation in real-data analysis, we also applied the X-APL to candidate-gene data in a sample of families with Parkinson disease.

Project description:Detecting gene-gene interaction in complex diseases has become an important priority for common disease genetics, but most current approaches to detecting interaction start with disease-marker associations. These approaches are based on population allele frequency correlations, not genetic inheritance, and therefore cannot exploit the rich information about inheritance contained within families. They are also hampered by issues of rigorous phenotype definition, multiple test correction, and allelic and locus heterogeneity. We recently developed, tested, and published a powerful gene-gene interaction detection strategy based on conditioning family data on a known disease-causing allele or a disease-associated marker allele4. We successfully applied the method to disease data and used computer simulation to exhaustively test the method for some epistatic models. We knew that the statistic we developed to indicate interaction was less reliable when applied to more-complex interaction models. Here, we improve the statistic and expand the testing procedure. We computer-simulated multipoint linkage data for a disease caused by two interacting loci. We examined epistatic as well as additive models and compared them with heterogeneity models. In all our models, the at-risk genotypes are "major" in the sense that among affected individuals, a substantial proportion has a disease-related genotype. One of the loci (A) has a known disease-related allele (as would have been determined from a previous analysis). We removed (pruned) family members who did not carry this allele; the resultant dataset is referred to as "stratified." This elimination step has the effect of raising the "penetrance" and detectability at the second locus (B). We used the lod scores for the stratified and unstratified data sets to calculate a statistic that either indicated the presence of interaction or indicated that no interaction was detectable. We show that the new method is robust and reliable for a wide range of parameters. Our statistic performs well both with the epistatic models (false negative rates, i.e., failing to detect interaction, ranging from 0 to 2.5%) and with the heterogeneity models (false positive rates, i.e., falsely detecting interaction, ≤1%). It works well with the additive model except when allele frequencies at the two loci differ widely. We explore those features of the additive model that make detecting interaction more difficult. All testing of this method suggests that it provides a reliable approach to detecting gene-gene interaction.

Dataset Information

A family-based association test to detect gene-gene interactions in the presence of linkage.

Publications

A family-based association test to detect gene-gene interactions in the presence of linkage.

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