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. 2018 Mar 21;9(1):1178.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03258-0.

Placenta and appetite genes GDF15 and IGFBP7 are associated with hyperemesis gravidarum

Marlena S Fejzo  1   2 , Olga V Sazonova  3 , J Fah Sathirapongsasuti  3 , Ingileif B Hallgrímsdóttir  3   4 , Vladimir Vacic  3 , Kimber W MacGibbon  5 , Frederic P Schoenberg  6 , Nicholas Mancuso  7 , Dennis J Slamon  8 , Patrick M Mullin  9 ; 23andMe Research Team
Collaborators, Affiliations

Placenta and appetite genes GDF15 and IGFBP7 are associated with hyperemesis gravidarum

Marlena S Fejzo et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, occurs in 0.3-2% of pregnancies and is associated with maternal and fetal morbidity. The cause of HG remains unknown, but familial aggregation and results of twin studies suggest that understanding the genetic contribution is essential for comprehending the disease etiology. Here, we conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for binary (HG) and ordinal (severity of nausea and vomiting) phenotypes of pregnancy complications. Two loci, chr19p13.11 and chr4q12, are genome-wide significant (p < 5 × 10-8) in both association scans and are replicated in an independent cohort. The genes implicated at these two loci are GDF15 and IGFBP7 respectively, both known to be involved in placentation, appetite, and cachexia. While proving the casual roles of GDF15 and IGFBP7 in nausea and vomiting of pregnancy requires further study, this GWAS provides insights into the genetic risk factors contributing to the disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

O.V.S., J.F.S., I.B.H., V.V. and members of the 23andMe research team are or have been employed by 23andMe, Inc. and may own stock or stock options in the company. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Genome-wide association scans for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. The Manhattan plot shows distribution of association test statistics vs. genomic position for a SCAN1 (binary phenotype), and b SCAN2 (ordinal phenotype). The Manhattan plot shows distribution of association test statistics versus genomic position. Chromosomes are arranged along the X-axis. Log10-scaled p-values are shown on the Y-axis. The loci with positions with p < 5 × 10−8 are shown in red and the loci with p < 10−6 are labeled with names of nearest genes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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