The use of measured genotype information in the analysis of quantitative phenotypes in man

Improved laboratory methods allow one to investigate the contribution of measured allelic variability at a locus physiologically involved in determining the expression of a quantitative trait. We present statistical methods that incorporate measured genotype information into the analysis of a quantitative phenotype that allows one simultaneously to detect and estimate the effects of a measured single locus and residual polygenic effects. Likelihoods are presented for the joint distribution of the quantitative phenotype and a measured genotype that are appropriate when the data are collected as a sample of unrelated individuals or as a sample of nuclear families. Application of this method to the analysis of serum cholesterol levels and the concentration of the group specific component (Gc) are presented. The analysis of the contribution of the common Gc polymorphism to the determination of quantitative variability in Gc using smaples of related and unrelated individuals presents, for the first time, the simultaneous estimation of the frequencies and the effects of the genotypes at a measured locus, and the contribution of residual unmeasured polygenes to phenotypic variability.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65935/1/j.1469-1809.1986.tb01037.x.pd

Risk Factor Management to Prevent First Stroke

This article provides an overview on the management of risk factors to prevent primary strokes, the gaps in successful management, and future directions for the research and management of stroke risk factors. The major focus is given to the management of modifiable risk factors for stroke, including hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation and other cardiac conditions, carotid artery stenosis, smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity. A brief discussion on the management of potentially modifiable risk factors, such as alcohol and drug abuse, sleep apnea, and hyperhomocysteinemia, is included, as is the use of antiplatelet therapy in primary stroke prevention. Finally, prognostic scores to assess an individual risk for a first stroke are reviewed