Novel loci and Mapuche genetic ancestry are associated with pubertal growth traits in Chilean boys

In this study, we analyzed the genetic basis of three pubertal traits; namely, peak height velocity (PV), age at PV (APV) and height at APV (HAPV). We analyzed a cohort of 904 admixed Chilean children and adolescents with European and Mapuche Native American ancestries. Height was measured on roughly a\(6-\)month basis from childhood to adolescence between 2006 and 2019. We predict that, in average, HAPV is 4.3 cm higher in European than in Mapuche adolescents (P = 0.042), and APV is 0.73 years later in European compared with Mapuche adolescents (P = 0.023). Further, by performing a GWAS on 774,  433 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, we identified a genetic signal harboring 3 linked variants significantly associated with PV in boys (P\(< 5 \times 10^{-8}\)). This signal has never been associated with growth-related traits.
Source: Human Genetics - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research