Novel loci for childhood body mass index and shared heritability with adult cardiometabolic traits
Suzanne Vogelezang, Jonathan P. Bradfield, Tarunveer S. Ahluwalia, John A. Curtin, Timo A. Lakka, Niels Grarup, Markus Scholz, Peter J. van der Most, Claire Monnereau, Evie Stergiakouli, Anni Heiskala, Momoko Horikoshi, Iryna O. Fedko, Natàlia Vilor‐Tejedor, Diana L. Cousminer, Marie Standl, Carol A. Wang, Jorma Viikari, Frank Geller, Carmen Íñiguez, Niina Pitkänen, Alessandra Chesi, Jonas Bačelis, Loïc Yengo, Maties Torrent, Ιωάννα Ντάλλα, Øyvind Helgeland, Saskia Selzam, Judith M. Vonk, Mohammed H. Zafarmand, Barbara Heude, I. Sadaf Farooqi, Akram Alyass, Robin N. Beaumont, Christian T. Have, Peter Rzehak, José Ramón Bilbao, Theresia M. Schnurr, Inês Barroso, Klaus Bønnelykke, Lawrence J. Beilin, Lisbeth Carstensen, Marie‐Aline Charles, Bo Chawes, Karine Clément, Ricardo Closa‐Monasterolo, Adnan Čustović, Johan G. Eriksson, Joaquín Escribano, Maria M. Groen‐Blokhuis, Veit Grote, Dariusz Gruszfeld, Håkon Håkonarson, Torben Hansen, Andrew T. Hattersley, Mette Hollensted, Jouke‐Jan Hottenga, Elina Hyppönen, Stefan Johansson, Raimo Joro, Mika Kähönen, Ville Karhunen, Wieland Kieß, Bridget Knight, Berthold Koletzko, Andreas Kühnapfel, Kathrin Landgraf, Jean‐Paul Langhendries, Terho Lehtimäki, Jaakko T. Leinonen, Aihuali Li, Virpi Lindi, Estelle Lowry, Mariona Bustamante, Carolina Medina‐Gómez, Mads Melbye, Kim F. Michaelsen, Camilla S. Morgen, Trevor A. Mori, Tenna Ruest Haarmark Nielsen, Harri Niinikoski, Albertine J. Oldehinkel, Katja Pahkala, Kalliope Panoutsopoulou, Oluf Pedersen, Craig E. Pennell, Christopher Power, Sijmen A. Reijneveld, Fernando Rivadeneira, Angela Simpson, Peter D. Sly, Jakob Stokholm, Koon Teo, Elisabeth Thiering, Nicholas J. Timpson, André G. Uitterlinden, Catharina E. M. van Beijsterveldt, Barbera D. C. van Schaik, Marc Vaudel, Elvira Verduci
Abstract
The genetic background of childhood body mass index (BMI), and the extent to which the well-known associations of childhood BMI with adult diseases are explained by shared genetic factors, are largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of BMI in 61,111 children aged between 2 and 10 years. Twenty-five independent loci reached genome-wide significance in the combined discovery and replication analyses. Two of these, located near NEDD4L and SLC45A3, have not previously been reported in relation to either childhood or adult BMI. Positive genetic correlations of childhood BMI with birth weight and adult BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, diastolic blood pressure and type 2 diabetes were detected (Rg ranging from 0.11 to 0.76, P-values <0.002). A negative genetic correlation of childhood BMI with age at menarche was observed. Our results suggest that the biological processes underlying childhood BMI largely, but not completely, overlap with those underlying adult BMI. The well-known observational associations of BMI in childhood with cardio-metabolic diseases in adulthood may reflect partial genetic overlap, but in light of previous evidence, it is also likely that they are explained through phenotypic continuity of BMI from childhood into adulthood.