Several genes influence a person's likelihood of developing fatty liver disease, but a recent study in Nature Genetics found that people with high -
risk gene variants were much more likely to actually get the disease if they were obese than if they were normal weight.
Carriers of
risk gene variants are more prone to dopaminergic mental illness.
The Vienna research group, together with international cooperation partners, have demonstrated that there are interactions between stressful life events and certain
risk gene variants that subsequently change the volume of the hippocampus forever.
Those differences led to lower levels of the IFITM3 protein in ndividuals with two copies of the high -
risk gene variant compared to other patients, researchers said.
Among the Japanese participants,
the risk gene variant had a similar frequency in centenarians (46.4 %) and in healthy controls (47.3 %), but it was less frequent than in controls performed with cardiovascular disease (57.2 %).
The exact biological explanation is not yet clear; however, she says one possibility is that people with the high -
risk gene variant have an insulin - production system that is overly sensitive to melatonin.
Not exact matches
The company will now be able to sell health
risk reports on three
variants found on the BRCA1 and BRCA2
genes, which are linked with a higher
risk of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.
Collaboration based on new findings from the Regeneron Genetics Center ® showing
variant in HSD17B13
gene is associated with reduced
risk of chronic liver diseases
For those who have MTHFR
gene variants, supplemental folic acid has not been found to reduce the
risk of miscarriage.
These SCARB1
gene variant studies aren't the only ones to challenge the long - held belief that increasing HDL was the key to reducing heart disease
risk.
Many of these
risk variants localize inside or close to
genes that regulate the vascular system.
Among the DNA
variants known to cause Alzheimer's or increase
risk of the disease, none are found in the tau
gene.
We used the LD signal strength as a guide to find our way to the true
risk gene — the particular
variant that actually caused the increased
risk for lupus.»
«So a [
gene variant] that conferred
risk to asthma confers protection against [worm infection].»
Dr Antonio Pardiñas, first author of the study, said: «We show for the first time that genetic
variants that do not severely impact
gene function, but presumably have a more subtle impact on these critical
genes, increase
risk for developing schizophrenia.»
Reviewing thousands of genome wide associate studies (GWAS) to identify genetic
variants in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), investigators at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center found that some alleles (one of a pair of
genes located on a specific chromosome) are more frequently
risk - associated with disease than protective.
Although individuals with
variants in their FTO
gene have almost double the
risk of obesity compared with those who do not inherit the
gene, «having the FTO
variant doesn't mean one is destined to be fat.
The team also examined data from a prior genetic study of children with asthma and found that a
variant of the dectin - 1
gene — which reduces production of the receptor — is strongly linked to increased asthma
risk.
Certain
gene variants are associated with an increased
risk of disease, but MS is rarely directly inherited.
«In the current study, we analyzed dozens of
variants of those
genes and other
genes frequently associated with obesity
risk and saw that, while total fat intake was related to higher BMI, people who were genetically predisposed to obesity and ate the most saturated fat had the highest BMIs.»
Alzheimer's - Of the three
variants of the ApoE
gene, ApoE4 carries the highest
risk for late - onset Alzheimer's (other
genes are associated with early - onset Alzheimer's).
Large - scale genomic studies will probably uncover more
gene variants associated with increased
risk of developing PTSD, says de Quervain, and may provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved.
The group has also shown that in humans, genetic
variants of the Oprl1
gene are associated with higher
risk of developing the disorder after exposure to trauma.
Gene variants have been linked to elevated
risks for disorders from Alzheimer's disease to breast cancer, and they may help explain why, for example, some smokers develop lung cancer whereas many others don't.
They found that people with the
gene variant had the highest
risk of side effects when they were given a statin called simvastatin, but this
risk was much lower when they took pravastatin.
«
Gene variant explains racial disparities in adverse reactions to urate - lowering drug: Findings support screening for
risk - associated
variant in Asian, black patients with gout.»
More than one quarter of children with two copies of a high -
risk variant in a specific group of
genes develop an early sign of celiac disease called celiac disease autoimmunity (CDA) by age 5.
The increased
risk closely correlates with the frequency of a
gene variant previously associated with that adverse reaction, supporting recommendations to screen for that
variant in patients from those populations.
Scientists also know dozens of
gene variants that increase people's
risk of lupus.
For example, researchers reported in a much touted 2006 Science article that they had discovered a
gene variant that seemed to confer a
risk for obesity, and they replicated the results in four human populations.
Professor Peter Kraft at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, USA, says: «Given the size of these studies, we expected that we would find a lot of new breast cancer
risk variants, but the studies tells us a lot more about which
genes are involved, revealing many previously unsuspected
genes and genetic mechanisms underlying breast carcinogenesis.
The inherited component of breast cancer
risk is due to a combination of rare
variants in
genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 that confer a high
risk of the disease, and many commoner genetic
variants that each confer only a small
risk.
By characterising the DNA sequence of these individuals, the project gained insight into the contribution of rare
variants to a broad range of disease scenarios, and discovered new genetic
variants and
genes underpinning disease
risk.
Animal studies have suggested that overactivation of TLR7 plays a role in lupus, and a
gene variant that increases expression of the receptor has been associated with increased lupus
risk in human patients.
«A new blue
gene: NKPD1
variant increases depression
risk.»
«We are the first to show a possible genetic connection in this respect,» said Dr. Amin, adding that this implies that such a therapy might be beneficial for patients carrying
risk variants in the NKPD1
gene.
Carrying a particular version of the
gene for apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the major known genetic
risk factor for the sporadic, late - onset form of Alzheimer's disease, but exactly how that
variant confers increased
risk has been controversial among researchers.
A special
gene variant increases the
risk of heavy smoking.
This year, however, researchers linked
variants of more than 50
genes to increased
risk for a dozen diseases.
Three simultaneous reports involving more than 32,000 participants uncovered four new diabetes - associated
gene variants, bringing to 10 the number of known non-Mendelian genetic
risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
Common
gene variants that have minor effects may contribute about half the
risk of developing autism
The new study focused on 40 cognitively healthy older adults between the ages of 65 and 75 who are carriers of a
gene variant (APOE e4) that is known to contribute to the
risk of developing late - onset Alzheimer's disease.
People who have one copy of the APOE
gene variant e4 have a three times greater
risk of developing AD.
That group also concluded that the increased
risk of sepsis caused the defective
variant to replace the original
gene.
Hereditary predisposition to cancer is sometimes due to a single high -
risk genetic change, like a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2
genes for breast cancer, but most of the time, the disease is the result of multiple
gene variants that add up, environmental
risk factors, and a big element of chance.
In fact, in another study published last year, National Institute on Aging (NIA) researchers discovered that people with what's called a CR1
gene variant — the presence of which heightens Alzheimer's disease
risk — had much lower levels of amyloid protein compared with those without the mutant
gene.
Evidence for ADGRL3 in ADHD
risk had already been stacked against it — common
variants of the
gene predispose people to ADHD and predict severity of the disorder.
The
gene variants that have been identified so far contribute only weakly to the
risk of contracting the disorder.
• SCT conferred a similar degree of
risk as APOL1
gene variants, which are the most widely recognized genetic contributors to kidney disease in blacks.
However, the researchers found that a variation of ECR47 associated with ADHD disrupted ECR47's ability to bind an important neurodevelopmental transcription factor, YY1 — an indication that the
risk variant interferes with
gene transcription.