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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Variations in the gene locus -- the area the gene is located on the chromosome -- associated with osteoarthritis, appear to modestly contribute to differences in body height, according to a report in the journal Nature Genetics.
The new findings are consistent with past clinical observations that have linked short stature with an increased risk of osteoarthritis, the report indicates. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, causing pain, swelling and reduced motion of the joints. Its onset is frequently age-related and often affects the hands, knees, hips or spine.
The study findings indicate a relationship between the genes that help determine height and osteoarthritis, which may be related through alterations in bone growth and development, senior author Dr. Karen L. Mohlke, from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said.
Mohlke and colleagues performed a complete gene analysis in 6,669 subjects from Finland and Sardinia and then tested the associations in 28,801 individuals.
As noted, gene variants' location in the locus (GDF5-UQCC) affected height, but the total effect was small, approximately 0.44 cm (0.17 inch).
The researchers point out that these osteoporosis gene variants, combined with those in another region, only account for less than 1 percent of the variations in height. Therefore, about 80 percent of the variations in height thought to be genetically determined are still unknown.
Dr. Francis S. Collins, a study co-author from the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, commented: "Many of the genetic variants involved in height likely will have only small effects, so it's going to take a lot of work involving very large sample sets to uncover all of them."
SOURCE: Nature Genetics, January 13, 2008.
