To introduce the application of a multifactor dimensionality reduction-genotype pedigree disequilibrium test (MDR-PDT) for detecting gene-gene interactions in the etiology of complex disease. A brief overview on the basic theory, implementing steps and features of MDR-PDT were described, and a practical research case was demonstrated to application of MDR-PDT in nuclear family studies. The MDR-PDT approach was the extension or development of conventional MDR method which could be used for detecting gene-gene interactions in families of diverse structure.
Conclusion: MDR-PDT was a new nonparametric and model-free method which might use additional family members in the nuclear families and had a good power to identify gene-gene interactions.