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Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have been extremely successful in identifying novel loci contributing effects to a wide range of complex human traits. However, despite this success, the joint marginal effects of these loci account for only a small proportion of the heritability of these traits. Interactions between variants in different loci are not typically modelled in traditional GWA analysis, but may account for some of the missing heritability in humans, as they do in other model organisms. One of the key challenges in performing gene-gene interaction studies is the computational burden of the analysis. We propose a two-stage interaction analysis strategy to address this challenge in the context of both quantitative traits and dichotomous phenotypes. We have performed simulations to demonstrate only a negligible loss in power of this two-stage strategy, while minimizing the computational burden. Application of this interaction strategy to GWA studies of T2D and obesity highlights potential novel signals of association, which warrant follow-up in larger cohorts.

Original publication

DOI

10.1002/gepi.20629

Type

Journal article

Journal

Genet Epidemiol

Publication Date

12/2011

Volume

35

Pages

800 - 808

Keywords

Computer Simulation, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Epistasis, Genetic, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Models, Genetic, Obesity, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait, Heritable