Complex inheritance Flashcards
What are multifactorial or complex disorders?
Run in families but do not conform to mendelian inheritance pattern. Diseases that result from the complex interactions b/w a number of genetic and environmental factors.
Gene-gene interactions (polygenic/multigenic effects) and gene-environment interactions
What is the incidence and some examples of multifactorial disorders?
affect 2/3 of ppl! Congenital birth defects, MI, cancer< mental illness, diabetes, and Alzheimer disease
Phenotypes of multifactorial disorders are divided into?
Qualitative and Quantitative
What is a Qualitative phenotype?
Genetic disease that is either present/absent. It’s discrete or qualitative Ex. male/female
What is Quantitative?
Measurable physiological or biochemical quantities. Ex: blood pressure, weight . . . continuous distribution, can’t say there is height or no height. NO discreteness-> measurable
What is the primary feature of multifactorial or complex disorders?
Familial aggregation-affected individuals may cluster in families. Families share genes and environments.
May not be totally due to genetic contribution
May be due to chance/sharing environmental factors
Concordant?
Two related individuals in a family have the same disease
Discordant?
when only one family member of a pair of relatives is affected
What can concordance in the presence of differing genotypes be explained by?
Genocopy and phenocopy
Genocopy?
A genotype that determines a phenotype closely similar to that determined by a diff genotype.
Phenocopy?
A mimic of a phenotype that is usually determined by a specific genotype, produced instead by interaction of some environmental factor with a normal genotype.
Measuring qualitative traits: How do you measure familial aggregation?
Relative risk=ratio of frequency of disease in relatives of affected pro band to frequency in general population.=> larger relative risk, the greater the familial aggregation
Case control studies=patients with disease are compared to individuals without the disease. Freq of disease in extended families of cases is compared with freq of positive family history among controls. Subject to bias. Association does not prove causation
Measuring qualitative traits:How is the relative contribution of genes and environment determined?
Concordance and allele sharing among relatives-most often used
Unrelated family member controls
Twin studies-expensive
Measuring qualitative traits: Concordance and allele sharing among relatives
freq of disease concordance increases as the degree of relatedness increases
Measuring qualitative traits:Unrelated family member controls
To separate family environment from genetic influence. Compare incidence of disease in unrelated family members(adoptees,spouses) with that in biological relatives.
Measuring qualitative traits:Twin studies
Concordance in monozygotic twins-less than 100% is strong evidence that non genetic factors play a role in the disease. If 100% concordance, then genes are the factor