Genome-wide association study of preterm birth and gestational age in a Japanese population

Keita Hasegawa; Natsuhiko Kumasaka; Kazuhiko Nakabayashi; Hiromi Kamura; Kayoko Maehara; Yoshifumi Kasuga; Kenichiro Hata; Mamoru Tanaka

doi:10.1038/s41439-023-00246-9

Genome-wide association study of preterm birth and gestational age in a Japanese population

Hum Genome Var. 2023 Jun 13;10(1):19. doi: 10.1038/s41439-023-00246-9.

Authors

Keita Hasegawa^{1

2}, Natsuhiko Kumasaka³, Kazuhiko Nakabayashi¹, Hiromi Kamura¹, Kayoko Maehara^{1

4}, Yoshifumi Kasuga², Kenichiro Hata^{1

5}, Mamoru Tanaka²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Maternal-Fetal Biology, National Center for Child Health and Development, Setagaya, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-0016, Japan.
³ Medical Research Center for Japan Environment and Children's Study, National Center for Child Health and Development, Setagaya, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan. kumasaka-n@ncchd.go.jp.
⁴ Department of Nutrition, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kio University, Kitakatsuragi, Nara, 635-0832, Japan.
⁵ Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan.

Abstract

Preterm birth (PTB), defined as the birth of a baby at <37 weeks of gestation, is known to be the main cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Here, we report genetic associations between preterm birth and gestational age in a Japanese population. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 384 cases who delivered prematurely and 644 controls and considered gestational age as a quantitative trait in 1028 Japanese women. Unfortunately, we were unable to identify any significant variants associated with PTB or gestational age using the current sample. We also examined genetic associations previously reported in European populations and identified no associations, even with the genome-wide subthreshold (p value < 10^-6). This data report aims to provide summary statistics of current GWASs on PTB in a Japanese population for future meta-analyses of genetics and PTB with larger sample sizes.

Abstract

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