SynthesisCommunications biology2024
Accounting for heterogeneity due to environmental sources in meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies.
Synthesis in Communications biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Ancestral diversity in complex disease genetics: from discovery to translation.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Driving Global Health equity and precision medicine through African genomic data.Human molecular genetics · 2025Article
- Navigating Mendelian Randomization in Sleep Medicine: Challenges, Opportunities, and Best Practices.Nature and science of sleep · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) across diverse populations offers power gains to identify loci associated with complex traits and diseases. Often heterogeneity in effect sizes across populations will be correlated with genetic ancestry and environmental exposures (e.g. lifestyle factors). We present an environment-adjusted meta-regression model (env-MR-MEGA) to detect genetic associations by adjusting for and quantifying environmental and ancestral heterogeneity between populations. In simulations, env-MR-MEGA has similar or greater association power than MR-MEGA, with notable gains when the environmental factor has a greater correlation with the trait than ancestry. In our analysis of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in ~19,000 individuals across twelve sex-stratified GWAS from Africa, adjusting for sex, BMI, and urban status, we identify additional heterogeneity beyond ancestral effects for seven variants. Env-MR-MEGA provides an approach to account for environmental effects using summary-level data, making it a useful tool for meta-analyses without the need to share individual-level data.
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Registered trials
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