ALOX5AP gene and the PDE4D gene in a central European population of stroke patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recent evidence has implicated the genes for 5-lipoxygenase activating protein (ALOX5AP) and phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) as susceptibility genes for stroke in the Icelandic population. The aim of the present study was to explore the role of these genes in a central European population of stroke patients. METHODS: A total of 639 consecutive stroke patients and 736 unrelated population-based controls that had been matched for age and sex were examined using a case-control design. Twenty-two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering ALOX5AP were genotyped. For PDE4D, microsatellite AC008818-1 and 12 SNPs, which tag all common haplotypes in previously identified linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks, were analyzed. RESULTS: A nominally significant association with stroke was observed with several SNPs from ALOX5AP, including SNP SG13S114, which had been part of the Icelandic at-risk haplotype. Associations were stronger in males than in females, with SG13S114 (odds ratio, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.55; P=0.017) and SG13S100 (odds ratio, 1.26; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.54; P=0.024) showing the strongest associations. No significant associations were detected with single markers and haplotypes in PDE4D. The frequencies of single-marker alleles and haplotypes differed largely from those in the Icelandic population. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that sequence variants in the ALOX5AP gene are significantly associated with stroke, particularly in males. Variants in the PDE4D gene are not a major risk factor for stroke in individuals from central Europe. Population differences in allele and haplotype frequencies as well as LD structure may contribute to the observed differences between populations.

Linkage disequilibrium patterns and tagSNP transferability among European populations.

The pattern of linkage disequilibrium (LD) is critical for association studies, in which disease-causing variants are identified by allelic association with adjacent markers. The aim of this study is to compare the LD patterns in several distinct European populations. We analyzed four genomic regions (in total, 749 kb) containing candidate genes for complex traits. Individuals were genotyped for markers that are evenly distributed at an average spacing of approximately 2-4 kb in eight population-based samples from ongoing epidemiological studies across Europe. The Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) trios of the HapMap project were included and were used as a reference population. In general, we observed a conservation of the LD patterns across European samples. Nevertheless, shifts in the positions of the boundaries of high-LD regions can be demonstrated between populations, when assessed by a novel procedure based on bootstrapping. Transferability of LD information among populations was also tested. In two of the analyzed gene regions, sets of tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) selected from the HapMap CEPH trios performed surprisingly well in all local European samples. However, significant variation in the other two gene regions predicts a restricted applicability of CEPH-derived tagging markers. Simulations based on our data set show the extent to which further gain in tagSNP efficiency and transferability can be achieved by increased SNP density.

Polymorphisms in FKBP5 are associated with increased recurrence of depressive episodes and rapid response to antidepressant treatment.

The stress hormone-regulating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the causality as well as the treatment of depression. To investigate a possible association between genes regulating the HPA axis and response to antidepressants and susceptibility for depression, we genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms in eight of these genes in depressed individuals and matched controls. We found significant associations of response to antidepressants and the recurrence of depressive episodes with single-nucleotide polymorphisms in FKBP5, a glucocorticoid receptor-regulating cochaperone of hsp-90, in two independent samples. These single-nucleotide polymorphisms were also associated with increased intracellular FKBP5 protein expression, which triggers adaptive changes in glucocorticoid receptor and, thereby, HPA-axis regulation. Individuals carrying the associated genotypes had less HPA-axis hyperactivity during the depressive episode. We propose that the FKBP5 variant-dependent alterations in HPA-axis regulation could be related to the faster response to antidepressant drug treatment and the increased recurrence of depressive episodes observed in this subgroup of depressed individuals. These findings support a central role of genes regulating the HPA axis in the causality of depression and the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs.

A first-generation linkage disequilibrium map of human chromosome 22.

DNA sequence variants in specific genes or regions of the human genome are responsible for a variety of phenotypes such as disease risk or variable drug response. These variants can be investigated directly, or through their non-random associations with neighbouring markers (called linkage disequilibrium (LD)). Here we report measurement of LD along the complete sequence of human chromosome 22. Duplicate genotyping and analysis of 1,504 markers in Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) reference families at a median spacing of 15 kilobases (kb) reveals a highly variable pattern of LD along the chromosome, in which extensive regions of nearly complete LD up to 804 kb in length are interspersed with regions of little or no detectable LD. The LD patterns are replicated in a panel of unrelated UK Caucasians. There is a strong correlation between high LD and low recombination frequency in the extant genetic map, suggesting that historical and contemporary recombination rates are similar. This study demonstrates the feasibility of developing genome-wide maps of LD.