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Admixture mapping of anthropometric traits in the Black Women’s Health Study: evidence of a shared African ancestry component with birth weight and type 2 diabetes

Journal of Human Genetics volume 67, pages 331–338 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and being born with low birth weight are much higher in African American women compared to U.S. white women. Genetic factors may contribute to the excess risk of these conditions. We conducted admixture mapping of body mass index (BMI) at age 18, adult BMI, and adult waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI using 2918 ancestral informative markers in 2596 participants of the Black Women’s Health Study. We also searched for evidence of shared African genetic ancestry components among the four examined anthropometric traits and among birth weight and T2D. We found that global percent African ancestry was associated with higher adult BMI. We also found that African ancestry at 9q34 was associated with lower BMI at age 18. Our shared ancestry analysis identified ten genomic regions with local African ancestry associated with multiple traits. Seven out of these ten genomic loci were related to T2D risk. Of special interest is the 12q14-21 region where local African ancestry was associated with low birth weight, low BMI, high BMI-adjusted waist-to-hip ratio, and high T2D risk. Findings in the 12q14-21 genomic locus are consistent with the fetal insulin hypothesis that postulates that low birth weight and T2D have a common genetic basis, and they support the hypothesis of a shared African genetic ancestry component linking low birth weight and T2D in African Americans. Future studies should identify the actual genetic variants responsible for the clustering of these conditions in African Americans.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the BWHS participants for their continuing participation in this research effort. This work was supported by grants R01MD007015 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, R01CA058420 and U01CA164974 from the National Cancer Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Cancer Institute, or the National Institute of Health.

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  1. Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Yue Wu

  2. Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Yue Wu & Edward A. Ruiz-Narváez

  3. Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Julie R. Palmer & Lynn Rosenberg

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The BWHS was approved by the institutional review board of Boston University. All study subjects provided written informed consent for use of their saliva samples.

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Wu, Y., Palmer, J.R., Rosenberg, L. et al. Admixture mapping of anthropometric traits in the Black Women’s Health Study: evidence of a shared African ancestry component with birth weight and type 2 diabetes. J Hum Genet 67, 331–338 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-022-01010-7

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