ASD Phenotype-Genotype Associations in Concordant and Discordant Monozygotic and Dizygotic Twins Stratified by Severity of Autistic Traits
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication coupled with stereotyped behaviors and restricted interests. Despite the high concordance rate for diagnosis, there is little information on the magnitude of genetic contributions to specific ASD behaviors. Using behavioral/trait severity scores from the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) diagnostic instrument, we compared the phenotypic profiles of mono- and dizygotic twins where both co-twins were diagnosed with ASD or only one twin had a diagnosis. The trait distribution profiles across the respective twin populations were first used for quantitative trait association analyses using publicly available genome-wide genotyping data. Trait-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were then used for case-control association analyses, in which cases were defined as individuals in the lowest (Q1) and highest (Q4) quartiles of the severity distribution curves for each trait. While all of the ASD-diagnosed twins exhibited similar trait severity profiles, the non-autistic dizygotic twins exhibited significantly lower ADI-R item scores than the non-autistic monozygotic twins. Case-control...Continue Reading
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Autism risk across generations: a population-based study of advancing grandpaternal and paternal age
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Autism
Autism spectrum disorder is associated with challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, and often accompanied by sensory sensitivities and medical issues. Here is the latest research on autism.