Dissection of genetic variation and evidence for pleiotropy in male pattern baldness.

ABSTRACT: Male pattern baldness (MPB) is a sex-limited, age-related, complex trait. We study MPB genetics in 205,327 European males from the UK Biobank. Here we show that MPB is strongly heritable and polygenic, with pedigree-heritability of 0.62 (SE?=?0.03) estimated from close relatives, and SNP-heritability of 0.39 (SE?=?0.01) from conventionally-unrelated males. We detect 624 near-independent genome-wide loci, contributing SNP-heritability of 0.25 (SE?=?0.01), of which 26?X-chromosome loci explain 11.6%. Autosomal genetic variance is enriched for common variants and regions of lower linkage disequilibrium. We identify plausible genetic correlations between MPB and multiple sex-limited markers of earlier puberty, increased bone mineral density (rg?=?0.15) and pancreatic ?-cell function (rg?=?0.12). Correlations with reproductive traits imply an effect on fitness, consistent with an estimated linear selection gradient of -0.018 per MPB standard deviation. Overall, we provide genetic insights into MPB: a phenotype of interest in its own right, with value as a model sex-limited, complex trait.

SUBMITTER: Yap CX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6302097 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature