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A sibling based design to quantify genetic and shared environmental effects of venous thromboembolism in Sweden

Zöller, Bengt LU orcid ; Ohlsson, Henrik LU ; Sundquist, Jan LU and Sundquist, Kristina LU (2017) In Thrombosis Research 149. p.82-87
Abstract

Introduction: Few large studies have examined the heritability of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Moreover, twin studies have been suggested to overestimate heritability. The aim of the present study was to determine the heritability nationwide in the general Swedish population using full siblings and half-siblings. Methods: VTE was defined using the Swedish patient register. Full sibling (FS) and half-sibling (HS) pairs born 1950-1990 were obtained from the Swedish Multi-generation Register. A maximum of 5. years age difference was allowed. We also required that the individuals within the pair should reside in the same household for at least 8. years or not at all (0. years) before the youngest turned 16. Information about sibling pair... (More)

Introduction: Few large studies have examined the heritability of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Moreover, twin studies have been suggested to overestimate heritability. The aim of the present study was to determine the heritability nationwide in the general Swedish population using full siblings and half-siblings. Methods: VTE was defined using the Swedish patient register. Full sibling (FS) and half-sibling (HS) pairs born 1950-1990 were obtained from the Swedish Multi-generation Register. A maximum of 5. years age difference was allowed. We also required that the individuals within the pair should reside in the same household for at least 8. years or not at all (0. years) before the youngest turned 16. Information about sibling pair residence within the same household, small residential area, and municipality was obtained from Statistics Sweden. We assumed three potential sources of liability to VTE: additive genetic (A), shared (or common/familial) environment (C), and unique environment (E) components. Results: Totally 881,206 FS pairs and 95,198 HS pairs were included. The full model predicted heritability for VTE with 47% for males and 40% for females. Environmental factors shared by siblings contributed to 0% of the variance in liability for both sexes, and unique environment (E) components accounted for 53% in males and 60% in females. Conclusion: The high heritability of VTE risk indicates that genetic susceptibility plays a substantial role for VTE in the Swedish general population. Overestimation of heritability from twin studies is not likely. The proportion of the variance attributable to shared familial environment factors is small. . Subject codes: Genetics, epidemiology, thrombosis, cardiovascular disease, embolism. .

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Epidemiological studies, Genetic predisposition to disease, Genetics, Venous thromboembolism, Venous thrombosis
in
Thrombosis Research
volume
149
pages
82 - 87
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:27793415
  • wos:000391287300015
  • scopus:84993939978
ISSN
0049-3848
DOI
10.1016/j.thromres.2016.10.014
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
760d38e4-fdfe-464c-a525-ee65abda68d9
date added to LUP
2016-12-02 12:42:20
date last changed
2024-09-07 03:08:33
@article{760d38e4-fdfe-464c-a525-ee65abda68d9,
  abstract     = {{<p>Introduction: Few large studies have examined the heritability of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Moreover, twin studies have been suggested to overestimate heritability. The aim of the present study was to determine the heritability nationwide in the general Swedish population using full siblings and half-siblings. Methods: VTE was defined using the Swedish patient register. Full sibling (FS) and half-sibling (HS) pairs born 1950-1990 were obtained from the Swedish Multi-generation Register. A maximum of 5. years age difference was allowed. We also required that the individuals within the pair should reside in the same household for at least 8. years or not at all (0. years) before the youngest turned 16. Information about sibling pair residence within the same household, small residential area, and municipality was obtained from Statistics Sweden. We assumed three potential sources of liability to VTE: additive genetic (A), shared (or common/familial) environment (C), and unique environment (E) components. Results: Totally 881,206 FS pairs and 95,198 HS pairs were included. The full model predicted heritability for VTE with 47% for males and 40% for females. Environmental factors shared by siblings contributed to 0% of the variance in liability for both sexes, and unique environment (E) components accounted for 53% in males and 60% in females. Conclusion: The high heritability of VTE risk indicates that genetic susceptibility plays a substantial role for VTE in the Swedish general population. Overestimation of heritability from twin studies is not likely. The proportion of the variance attributable to shared familial environment factors is small. . Subject codes: Genetics, epidemiology, thrombosis, cardiovascular disease, embolism. .</p>}},
  author       = {{Zöller, Bengt and Ohlsson, Henrik and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina}},
  issn         = {{0049-3848}},
  keywords     = {{Epidemiological studies; Genetic predisposition to disease; Genetics; Venous thromboembolism; Venous thrombosis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{82--87}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Thrombosis Research}},
  title        = {{A sibling based design to quantify genetic and shared environmental effects of venous thromboembolism in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.thromres.2016.10.014}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.thromres.2016.10.014}},
  volume       = {{149}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}